The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) reported a record PHP112 billion ($1.92 billion) in revenue for 2024, marking a 41% increase from the previous high of PHP79 billion in 2023. This is only the second time revenue has surpassed PHP100 billion, following PHP104.12 billion in 2018.
The surge was driven primarily by online gambling, which has overtaken land-based casinos as the state-owned gaming regulator’s largest revenue source.
Revenue from egaming and ebingo soared 116% year-on-year to PHP46.79 billion, making up nearly half of Pagcor’s total earnings. Meanwhile, licensed land-based casino revenue remained stable at PHP33.07 billion (33.9% of total revenue).
However, Casino Filipino—Pagcor’s own chain of casinos—saw a 16.2% decline to PHP12.67 billion, and offshore gaming revenue dropped 5.1% to PHP2.99 billion after the December 2024 ban on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) by presidential order.
Pagcor also reported record net operating income of PHP84.97 billion, reflecting a 50.7% increase from 2023. After allocating PHP68.21 billion to nation-building initiatives, net income reached PHP16.77 billion, up 146.3% year-on-year.
Key allocations included:
• PHP46.32 billion to the government share
• PHP12.37 billion for socio-civic projects
• PHP4.87 billion for franchise tax
• PHP1.09 billion in corporate income tax
• PHP2.31 billion for the Philippine Sports Commission
“We are proud to announce that our 2024 financial performance is the best so far in the history of Pagcor,” said Pagcor Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco. “Our 2024 revenues allowed us to support more government programs and other nation-building initiatives.”
Pagcor’s record performance comes as the regulator cut online gambling fees from 35% to 30% starting January 1, 2025, in an effort to attract more legal operators and curb illegal gambling.
This follows a previous reduction from over 50% to 35% in April 2023. As a result, the number of accredited gaming service providers tripled from 49 in 2023 to 174 in 2024.
“The continuous growth of the egames sector is the key driver of Pagcor’s record-breaking performance,” Tengco said. “It reflects the increasing popularity of digital gaming platforms and the transformative impact of technology on the industry.”