Visualized: The Largest Online Gambling Markets
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Visualized: The Largest Online Gambling Markets
Gone are the days when gambling enthusiasts had to travel to the nearest casino or find underground gambling dens for a few games of poker or blackjack.
The start of internet gambling or virtual gambling provided enthusiasts with an avenue to spend their time (and money) at the click of a button from anywhere in the world.
Today, these digital casinos have turned into a multibillion-dollar industry in some countries. This graphic by Louis Lugas Wicaksono uses data from the H2 Gambling Capital—as cited by The Guardian—to highlight the countries with the largest regulated online gambling markets.
Biggest Online Gambling Markets in 2021
Gross online gaming revenue globally was estimated to have reached a whopping $102 billion in 2021. Here are the largest markets on a per-country basis.
Far and away at the top of the rankings, the UK ($12.5B) narrowly surpasses the U.S. ($11B) as the largest online gambling market in the world.
Next up is Australia ($6.5B) in third, comparatively with roughly half of the UK’s gaming spend. Europe features prominently on the top 10 list, including Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Spain, and Greece.
Notably, no countries from Asia, South America, or Africa feature in the top 10. That’s despite some Asian countries having higher economic outputs and GDP per capita metrics than some of the featured European countries.
The True Cost of Gambling Revenue
Online gambling markets rose to new heights of popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, as people were pushed into isolation with only time and the internet for company. In turn, this raised concerns of gambling addiction and its impacts, including crime.
England alone saw close to 3,000 cases of theft, fraud, and other gambling-related crimes between 2019 and 2020. Governments have now started pushing for policy changes to control these issues before it is too late.
To learn more about the true size of online gambling, check out The Staggering Numbers Behind the Online Betting Industry.This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.
