Philippine Gaming Revenue Falls 11.4% in Q3 as Electronic Gaming Keeps Sliding

PAGCOR calls a slower rate of decline "encouraging", but most of that improvement comes from an easier comparison. Electronic gaming revenue fell 11.5% from the second quarter, after holding flat between the first two.

• The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) said on 6 November that industry gross gaming revenue fell 11.41% to PHP83.72 billion in the third quarter, from PHP94.51 billion a year earlier
• Electronic gaming, covering e-games, e-bingo and bingo grantees, fell 22.86% to PHP35.28 billion and accounted for about 97% of the fall, while licensed casinos slipped 0.40% to PHP45.38 billion
• The year-on-year decline narrowed from 20.33% in the second quarter, but industry revenue fell 5.0% from the second quarter's PHP88.13 billion
• Chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengco blamed inflation and geopolitical uncertainty, and his statement did not mention the 2025 e-wallet delinking that hit the comparison quarter
• Nine-month GGR stands at about PHP259.5 billion, which leaves PAGCOR's own forecast of PHP320 billion to PHP350 billion needing a strong fourth quarter to reach its top end

Electronic Gaming Accounted for Almost the Entire Decline

The Philippine gaming industry generated PHP83.72 billion (approximately $1.33 billion) in gross gaming revenue (GGR) between July and September, down 11.41% from PHP94.51 billion a year earlier, according to PAGCOR's third-quarter statement of Friday 6 November.

Electronic gaming, which PAGCOR defines as e-bingo, e-games and bingo grantees, fell 22.86% to PHP35.28 billion from PHP45.73 billion. Tengco said in the statement that the PHP10.45 billion fall "accounted for the bulk" of the industry's contraction; on PAGCOR's figures it was about 97% of the PHP10.79 billion total. Licensed casinos produced PHP45.38 billion, down 0.40% from PHP45.56 billion, and their 54.20% share made them the largest contributor. PAGCOR-operated casinos took PHP3.03 billion, down 4.81% from PHP3.18 billion.

Tengco attributed the weakness to "inflationary pressures and geopolitical uncertainties", which he said "have affected spending on discretionary activities, including gaming". He called the slower pace of decline compared with the second quarter, when GGR fell 20.33%, "an encouraging development". BusinessMirror reported on 7 November that Philippine inflation reached 7.8% in October, its highest in more than three years, up from 7.2% in September and 1.7% a year earlier.

Electronic Gaming Fell Further From the Second Quarter

PAGCOR's quarterly releases show a different trajectory from the year-on-year figures. Industry GGR was PHP87.60 billion in the first quarter and PHP88.13 billion in the second, as reported by Focus Gaming News from PAGCOR's figures, so the third quarter fell 5.0% from the second. Electronic gaming went from PHP39.90 billion in the first quarter to PHP39.85 billion in the second and PHP35.28 billion in the third, an 11.5% sequential fall, although PAGCOR included poker in that category in the first half. Licensed casinos were flat at PHP45.37 billion and PHP45.38 billion.

That runs against Tengco's own reading in July, when PAGCOR's first-half results statement quoted him saying "market conditions improved in the second quarter". The agency's own finances show the same pressure: on 29 October PAGCOR reported nine-month revenues of PHP64.41 billion, down 23.41%, with electronic gaming revenue down 37.23% to PHP27.63 billion and net income down 84.85% to PHP2.17 billion, a fall it attributes in part to a Supreme Court ruling requiring it to remit 5% of gross revenues to the Philippine Sports Commission.

The Narrowing Decline Is Mostly a Base Effect

The comparison quarter was already damaged. In its third-quarter 2025 statement, PAGCOR said e-games grew only because of a strong July, and that revenue fell in August and September after the central bank's mandatory delinking of e-wallets from gaming platforms. The second quarter of 2026, by contrast, was measured against PHP110.63 billion, a pre-delinking peak. A smaller fall against a weaker base is not a recovery, and electronic gaming is still shrinking sequentially. Inflation and geopolitics are real pressures, but the delinking's payments friction remains in every quarter.

Land-Based Casinos Are Holding the Market Up

Licensed casinos have produced between PHP44.52 billion and PHP45.38 billion in each quarter of 2026, a narrow band against swings of several billion pesos online. That lifts their share by default, to 54.20% from 50.83% in the first quarter. It also matters for the Casino Filipino sale, since PAGCOR's own venues are down 4.81% on the year while private casinos hold steady.

The Full-Year Forecast Now Depends on the Fourth Quarter

Nine-month GGR of about PHP259.5 billion is down roughly 16% from PHP309.3 billion a year earlier, on PAGCOR's quarterly figures. BusinessMirror reported that PAGCOR expects at least PHP350 billion for the year; that would require fourth-quarter GGR of about PHP90.6 billion, more than any quarter of 2026 so far. The bottom of PAGCOR's June range, PHP320 billion, needs only about PHP60.6 billion. With no online gaming law yet, the online segment's direction is a policy question as much as a demand one.

PAGCOR's third quarter was another shrinking quarter for online gaming, cushioned by stable casinos and an easy comparison. A fourth quarter above PHP90 billion would be the first real sign that the decline has turned.