E-gaming becomes Isle of Man’s largest business sector

Gross domestic product reached £4.32bn in 2013-14 after real growth of 4.5% during the year.

Chief Minister Allan Bell said that while the report is for the 2013-14 financial year, all the indicators showed that the economy is continuing to grow. He said: ‘This was the biggest increase in annual GDP since 2008, the year of the credit crunch.’

Key results from the report show that growth in GDP of 6.1%, or 4.5%in real terms (compared to 3.2% in 2012/13).

Gross National Product, the other measure of national income, grew by 6.7%, or 5.1% in real terms (compared to 4.8% in 2012/13).

The report reveals that Information and Communication Technology and e-Gaming were the main drivers of growth during the year, growing by 58% and 30% respectively in real terms, with e-Gaming overtaking insurance as the largest single economic sector.

E-gaming now has a 16.7% sector share, while insurance is 14.6%, banking 7.7% and other finance and business services 10.1%t.
Bell said this showed the success made of efforts to diversify the economy away from finance. He said this had stopped the island going into recession - in contrast with Jersey, which remains far more heavily dependent on financial services and has now been in recession for five years.

The Chief Minister said the report also reflected a strong recovery in the construction sector, which has seen real growth of 17% compared with 2012/13.

However, retail and tourist accommodation both contracted significantly during the year. The Mount Murray Hotel was closed in November 2013 following a devastating fire. It is now up for sale.