What are the biggest online gambling markets in the world?

Online gambling is already a major industry worldwide, and it is projected to continue enjoying strong growth going forwards, thanks to a combination of factors including connectivity improvements and broader regulatory support.

So which regions have the biggest existing markets for online gambling, and how do different nations and continents stack up when it comes to revenues?

Europe

In terms of sheer size, Europe is the largest hub of online gambling on the planet, with the market estimated to be worth $22 billion in 2019 and further growth seen in the interim, according to Grandview Research.

As the global market as a whole was worth $53.7 billion, covering everything from live casino games to sports betting, Europe’s significant slice puts it ahead of the curve, even if its population is comparatively small.

The reason for this state of affairs is that many countries in Europe have legalized many aspects of online gambling, and governments in places like the UK actively encourage operators to offer their products to residents, with significant tax revenues generated as a result of this.

Whether or not Europe is able to hang onto its top position in the coming half-decade will depend chiefly on how other regions adapt to the rising consumer interest in online gambling.

North America

While it is expected that the US and Canada will only hit the $20 billion market size milestone for online gambling in 2025, this is impressive given that it is still an industry which is tightly controlled and even effectively prohibited in many parts of North America at the moment. Double digit annual growth is on the cards, with the relaxing of legislation meaning that more states in the US in particular are able to offer residents the option to place online wagers across a range of game types.

What sets North America apart from European countries like the UK is that in most instances its online gambling brands must be linked to a land-based casino equivalent, rather than being eligible to exist as entirely separate, purely digital entities. Few of these gambling brands also often provide interesting deals such as no deposit bonus for Canadians to attract even more players which is a quite interesting strategy.

This could all change if further support from politicians and lobbyists is forthcoming, although with the sluggishness of the rollout of more favorable regulations in places like California, it will likely be a case of waiting years rather than months for widespread adoption to begin wholesale.

Asia-Pacific

Drilling down into the figures for Asia’s online gambling market is somewhat tricky, because while certain reports suggest it is one of the smaller markets worldwide, others argue that it is actually home to far higher levels of web-based play, but that because such activity is legally ambiguous, a lot of the revenue being generated is not adequately covered by the statistics.

Claims of revenues ranging from $10 billion to anywhere up to $72 billion have been thrown about, so it is best to take these with a pinch of salt and admit that while online gambling may not be legal in places like China and India, there are exceptions and there is clearly demand for this amongst players.

The reason that so much spending is still thought to occur on web-powered gambling services in Asia is that locals are able to make use of VPNs to overcome whatever top-level blocks are put in place by ISPs at the behest of the authorities. Signs of a more accepting attitude towards online gambling in Asia are visible, and if governments embrace it, this market could undoubtedly become the world’s largest, eclipsing the more established counterparts in Europe and North America with little effort.