Illegal Gambling Possibly Accounts for 80% of Betting in Asia
Report from Asian Racing Federation warns illegal gambling is here to stay. Report claims illegal and unlicensed gambling websites are leading to increased gambling harm, loss of financial and personal data, and undermining the integrity of sports.
Fewer than 40% of betting sites in 61 jurisdictions are licensed and regulated. Most of the unregulated gambling sites are in Curacao, Malta and the Philippines. The majority of illegal gambling websites operate in Asia. The report focuses on some of Asia's most popular and trusted brands. At least 262 of surveyed websites were considered to be the most visited gambling site between 2019 and 2021.
The report claims that 39.75 billion of the total visits to gambling websites in the surveyed period were placed on unregulated websites. Unregulated gambling operations in Asia may account for up to 80% of betting in that region. 97% of all people observed went to illegal gambling sites at some point during the survey period. Jets are partly to blame for the rise of illegal betting.