According to the Association of Gaming Industry in Bulgaria (AGIB), legal operators in the Bulgarian market distributed earnings of nearly BNG 5.79bn ($3.18bn) in 2023, taking into consideration both monetary and material winnings exceeding BNG 5,000. 

Under the direction of Rumen Spetsov, the National Revenue Agency discovered these findings. The agency also discovered that the results showed an annual growth of nearly 147%, with winnings of BNG 2.34 billion distributed in 2022. 

By law, operators in Bulgaria are required to report to tax agencies any winnings made by players that exceed BNG 5,000. It is therefore possible that the total winnings that Bulgarian gaming operators paid out last year exceeded BNG 6 billion. The National Revenue Agency, however, did not account for these smaller amounts. 

The total amount of BNG 5.79 billion that was paid out to 120,853 individuals last year. Compared to the previous year, when earnings were divided among 52,852 players, this represents a 128.7% increase.  

Taking into consideration only winnings exceeding BNG 5,000 in 2022, this indicates that each average player took home BNG 44,275. The average amount received by the 120,853 players in 2023 was BNG 47,909, a slight increase. This indicates that players received 8.2% more money annually on average.  

Political organizations in Bulgaria suggested a nationwide advertising ban on gambling in April of this year, citing rising addiction rates as justification. But in spite of these circumstances, a large number of vendors and operators joined or increased their presence in the Bulgarian market in the year.

Hacksaw Gaming launched in Bulgaria in April via Alphawin, and in May Topwin increased its market share in Bulgaria by partnering with Softswiss. Most recently, Evoplay increased its market share in Bulgaria by partnering with Sesame.