Lotteries, chance and legality pacts: Coljuegos' performance in figures
July 2026 was an eventful month for Colombia’s gambling industry. While Coljuegos, the country’s gambling regulator, and the National Police intensified operations against illegal networks in regions such as Nariño, the legal sector highlighted that it had transferred more than COP 2 trillion (around $638 million) to the country’s healthcare system over the previous four years. The figures reflect the growth of the regulated market, running alongside the State’s efforts to contain clandestine operations. That coexistence between legal and illegal gambling is perhaps the clearest picture of how the industry operates in Colombia today.
Fedelco reviews the government’s four-year term
Fedelco, the Colombian Lottery Federation, has represented the interests of companies operating traditional lottery games in the country since 1970. It is the trade body that brings together 15 lottery companies from the country’s main regions, with the mission of strengthening the sector and transferring resources to subsidised health care for Colombians.
Fedelco’s Assembly brought together representatives of the country’s lotteries for a management review that coincides with the close of the four-year term of the national government led by Gustavo Petro. Coljuegos is the entity responsible for administering, regulating and overseeing games of chance operated by private parties in Colombia, including lotteries and permanent betting games.
Coljuegos reports $817 million for health between 2022 and 2026
State-run lottery and territorial betting products transferred COP 2.56 trillion (around $817 million) to the subsidised health regime between 2022 and 2026. The figure was given by Marco Emilio Hincapié, president of Coljuegos, during the General Assembly of Fedelco.
Of that total, the 15 territorial lotteries contributed COP 1.05 trillion (around $335 million). Permanent betting games, known locally as chance, totalled COP 1.33 trillion (around $425 million). Sector sales over the four-year term reached COP 2.9 trillion in lotteries (around $926 million) and topped COP 10.6 trillion in chance (around $3,384 million).
More than 40 pacts for legality and a regulatory agenda in Colombia
Coljuegos also reported signing more than 40 “legality pacts” with concessionaires to tackle unauthorised gaming operations across all 32 departments. These are inter-institutional agreements between Coljuegos, regional governments, mayors’ offices, lotteries, chance concessionaires, the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office. Under these agreements, the parties commit to sharing information and coordinating actions to control, seize, and prosecute networks running illegal gambling operations in the territories. Marco Emilio Hincapié, president of Coljuegos, said these agreements had helped “strengthen the legal industry” across the country.
The official also explained a regulatory reform plan promoted by the Consejo Nacional de Juegos de Suerte y Azar (National Council of Games of Chance). He cited the renewal of the sector’s regulations, the rollout of recent technical standards for draws, and the institutional recapitalisation processes at certain lotteries as examples of progress.
Hincapié added that several regulatory initiatives are currently being developed. They aim to modernise the lottery regime, incorporate Random Number Generation (RNG), enable digital broadcasts of draws, and create mechanisms to address the liquidity risks facing territorial lotteries.
“With complete satisfaction and confidence, we can say that the Government of Change delivered on its commitment to health care and to the games of chance sector,” said the president of Coljuegos.
What remains unclear after Coljuegos’ report
Coljuegos’ report provides collection and sales figures, but it does not specify how much of that growth is due to operators entering the regulated market and how much reflects a genuine rise in gaming consumption. Nor does it mention, at this stage, year-by-year performance, which makes it not possible to assess whether the contribution to health grew steadily or responded to specific spikes, for example, in special draws or particular lotteries. The entity also refers to 40 legality pacts signed over four years, yet it provides no measure of those pacts’ impact on illegal gaming, a phenomenon that oversight bodies and the lotteries themselves have flagged as one of the sector’s main challenges for more than a decade.
Chance accounts for the bulk of betting revenue in Colombia
Chance, the permanent betting game in which players pick a number and bet on it matching the day’s lottery result, accounts for the largest share of the reported revenue, with COP 1.33 trillion ($422 million) against COP 1.05 trillion ($333 million) for the lotteries, even though the latter tend to enjoy greater public visibility thanks to televised draws. The gap between chance sales, which exceed COP 10.6 trillion ($3.36 billion), and their contribution to health, at COP 1.33 trillion ($422 million), is likewise unexplained in the statement, leaving out a key element for understanding the real tax burden that segment of the business carries compared with traditional lotteries.
Digital broadcasts of lottery draws and the use of RNG are among the technological innovations outlined, but the statement provides no details on implementation costs or timelines for territorial lotteries, many of which have faced financial difficulties in recent years.
Coljuegos’ report indicates that the legal sector has enjoyed sustained growth while contributing to Colombia’s healthcare system, at a time when the country is pursuing regulatory modernisation and continuing its joint fight against illegal gambling.
This article was first published on the Spanish SiGMA News page on 31 July 2026.
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