Chile's 22 casinos authorized under Law 19,995 accrued CLP141.329bn ($143.9m) in taxes through September 2026, an 8.46% year-over-year decrease in real terms, according to the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego (SCJ).
The figure covers the first three quarters of the year, rather than the third quarter alone.
The total comprises CLP61.688bn in the specific gaming tax, CLP59.519bn in value-added tax and CLP20.123bn in casino admission tax.
Under the distribution rules, regional governments and municipalities each receive half of the specific gaming tax. Admission tax goes to general national funds. These tax streams finance authorities at several levels of government.
Gross gaming revenue at the 22 licensed casinos totaled CLP372.774bn through September, down 7.9% in real terms from the same point last year. The SCJ recorded 4,067,872 visits, an 11.25% decline.
The regulator calculated average gaming spend at CLP91,639 per visit, a 3.82% real increase, indicating that higher spending per visitor did not offset the fall in attendance.
Three casinos operating under municipal concessions sit outside the group of 22 covered by the headline tax and visitor figures. Their combined gross gaming revenue also declined, by 5.9% in real terms, according to the SCJ's separate figures.
The regulator reports the two groups separately because their operating authorizations follow different legal arrangements.
The figures arrive during an active period for Chile's casino concession system. In October, the SCJ reopened a process for one casino permit reserved for the Aysén Region and another available nationally after earlier applications failed to satisfy legal and regulatory requirements. Technical and economic offers for the new process are due in April 2027.
The latest market data show pressure on both casino activity and the tax streams linked to it. The figures do not identify a single cause for the declines, and the year-over-year tax and gaming revenue comparisons have been adjusted for inflation.
A separate October account of Rinconada's casino tax shortfall showed how changes in gaming contributions can affect municipal budgets. That local study covered 2019 to 2025, while the SCJ's new release measures the wider licensed casino market through September 2026.
The SCJ separately reported CLP54.374bn in economic offer payments collected through September for eventual municipal distribution
