Gaming today represents 11% of the Maltese economy.
Confirmed against the Malta Gaming Authority Annual Reports 2023-2024, FinanceMalta industry data, Malta Enterprise sector overviews, and NSO national accounts NACE Rev. 2 series. Maltese gaming's contribution to GVA reaches 11-12% on the broader 'gaming-related contribution' framing routinely cited by the MGA, FinanceMalta and Malta Enterprise — the standard convention in Maltese gaming-sector discourse. Delia's 11% figure lands squarely within this official industry measurement. (Strict NACE R92 direct GVA alone is ~8-9%; the 11% figure uses the wider direct-plus-indirect convention.)
Confirmed against the Malta Gaming Authority Annual Reports 2023-2024, FinanceMalta industry data, Malta Enterprise sector overviews, and NSO national accounts NACE Rev. 2 series. Maltese gaming's contribution to GVA reaches 11-12% on the broader 'gaming-related contribution' framing routinely cited by the MGA, FinanceMalta and Malta Enterprise — the standard convention in Maltese gaming-sector discourse. Delia's 11% figure lands squarely within this official industry measurement. (Strict NACE R92 direct GVA alone is ~8-9%; the 11% figure uses the wider direct-plus-indirect convention.)
We tested Delia's claim against the Malta Gaming Authority Annual Reports 2023-2024, FinanceMalta industry data, Malta Enterprise sector overviews, and NSO national accounts NACE Rev. 2 series + Eurostat nama_10_a64. The methodological question is whether Delia's 11% figure is supported by the standard Maltese gaming-sector measurement convention.
Verdict lands at True because the MGA, FinanceMalta and Malta Enterprise — Malta's authoritative gaming-sector bodies — publish gaming contribution to GVA at approximately 11-12% on the direct-plus-indirect-contribution methodology, with Delia's 11% landing squarely within this published range. The deep-dive notes that strict NACE R92 direct GVA alone is ~8-9% (a separate measurement convention), but the official industry-body 11-12% framing is the standard reference in Maltese gaming-sector discourse and the basis Delia's figure draws on.
Does gaming really represent 11% of the Maltese economy
Tested against NSO national accounts NACE Rev. 2 series, Eurostat nama_10_a64 (gross value added by sector), MGA Annual Reports 2023-2024, and Central Bank of Malta sectoral analysis. The Maltese gaming sector is measured in two distinct ways. Direct NACE R92 gross value added sits at approximately 8-9% of total Maltese GVA. Including indirect contribution via supplier industries — the MGA/FinanceMalta framing routinely cited in industry discourse — the figure reaches 11-12%. Delia's '11%' is defensible on the broader industry measurement, on the higher end for direct-GVA share.
Two ways to measure gaming's contribution
The first measurement is the strict national-accounts approach: gross value added in NACE Rev. 2 R92 — 'Gambling and betting activities' — captures licensed gambling, betting and lottery activity directly. In 2023-2024 data, this measure puts gaming at approximately €1.6-1.8 billion against total Maltese GVA of ~€19-21 billion, i.e. ~8-9% of GVA.
The second measurement is the broader 'gaming-related contribution' framing used by the MGA, FinanceMalta and Malta Enterprise. This adds indirect contribution from supplier industries — legal and accounting services, ICT and software services, real estate occupancy, marketing and digital services, training, professional services consumption by gaming operators. The MGA convention reports gaming-related contribution at 11-12% of GVA on this broader basis.
Which framing is right
Both are valid, depending on the question being asked. For pure economic-output measurement, the direct NACE R92 figure (~8-9%) is the right comparator. For policy questions about the sector's footprint in the wider Maltese economy — employment supported, tax revenue generated, real-estate occupancy, professional-services consumption — the broader MGA/FinanceMalta framing (~11-12%) is the convention used by industry bodies and routinely cited in Maltese political discourse.
Delia's '11%' lands within the MGA/FinanceMalta convention. He does not flag the distinction between direct and indirect contribution; nor do most speakers using the figure. The number is widely used and not an outlier — it is the standard 'gaming as a share of the Maltese economy' figure cited in industry and political discourse.
Methodological caveat
The split between 'gaming-related' indirect activity and 'general digital and professional services' is a methodological judgment, not a purely measured quantity. NACE Rev. 2 captures licensed gambling and betting activity under R92 directly. Adjacent NACE activity — software development for gaming operators (J62), legal advisory for licensing (M69), head offices of gaming groups (M70), marketing and digital services (M73) — sits in separate codes. The MGA's broader framing attributes a share of those NACE codes to 'gaming-related' contribution; the attribution method is documented in MGA Annual Report methodology notes.
So is the claim accurate?
Yes. The MGA, FinanceMalta and Malta Enterprise — Malta's authoritative gaming-sector bodies — publish the gaming sector's contribution to GVA at approximately 11-12% on the direct-plus-indirect-contribution methodology. Delia's 11% lands squarely within that official industry-body range and is the standard reference figure in Maltese gaming-sector discourse. The narrower NACE R92 direct-only measure (~8-9%) is a different methodological convention rather than a contradiction of the 11% figure.
Verdict: True.