The Isle of Man’s economy has now achieved over 4 decades of continual growth according to its latest report on national income. The recent rise in annual GDP has been the greatest increase since the 2008/9 recession.
A lot of emphasis was placed on efforts to diversify the economy away from the finance sector, to prevent the island going into recession, according to the island’s Chief Minister, Allan Bell.
Information & communication technology and eGaming were outlined by the report to be the key drivers of this success. Over the year, information & communication technology rose by an outstanding 58%, whilst the eGaming sector dramatically increased by 30%. eGaming has now overtaken the insurance industry as the single largest economic sector.
A day after KPMG’s 6th eGaming summit, a group of 8 eGaming business industry experts gathered at KPMG’s base in Athol Street to discuss the findings of the report. The head of eGaming for the Isle of Man’s government, Mark Robson, announced his pleasure that the eGaming sector
currently represents 16.7% of the island’s economy, with an annual growth that equates to around £168 million. Insurance and banking are the next largest sectors, holding a 14.6% and 7.7% share respectively.
The group then progressed to discussing the future direction of the eGaming sector, and the word on the table was ‘eSports’. Discussed in quantity at the previous day’s eGaming summit, eSports and fantasy games are definitely an area to keep an eye on.
Check out the Think Gaming blog for the latest insights and trends on the growing eSports and fantasy gaming phenomenon.
Follow this link to see the full copy of the Isle of Man’s ‘National Income Report’.
