Despite the shocking cost gambling addiction has on governments and society, the entire market has multiplied over the past years.

According to data presented by CasinosEnLigne.com, the online gambling industry has more than doubled in the past four years, reaching 176 million users and over $95bn in revenue in 2023.

Revenue Grows By An Average Of 20% YoY; The United States And The United Kingdom Are The Top Two Markets

Online casinos and sports betting sites, virtually non-existent two decades ago, today bring billions of dollars in revenue each year. The entire industry has snowballed because online gambling is accessible, easy to start and offers a much wider range of games and betting options than most brick-and-mortar casinos.

In 2019, the entire industry grossed $45.7bn worldwide, according to a Statista survey. A year later, this figure jumped to $55.1bn and continued rising. Statistics show global online gambling revenue has grown by an average of 20% in the past four years before reaching $95bn in 2023. Statista expects the entire market to continue seeing double-digit revenue growth in the following years and hit a $117.6bn value by 2025.

Over one-third of total revenue comes from the United States and the United Kingdom, the top two markets. The US online gambling industry is expected to gross $19.1bn in 2023, a massive 267% increase from $5.2bn reported in 2019. As the second-largest globally, UK’s market is forecast to hit $12.8bn in revenue or 62% more than four years ago. Australia, Japan, and Germany follow, with $9.1bn, $5.5bn, and $5.1bn in revenue in 2023, respectively.

Statistics also show online sports betting is the largest revenue stream in the market, expected to bring $43.5bn in revenue in 2023, or 120% more than four years ago. Online casinos have seen a massive 110% growth in this period, with revenue rising from $16.6bn in 2019 to $34.8bn in 2023.

More Than 80 Million People Started Gambling Online Since 2019

Although online gambling brings billions of dollars in revenue each year, it also causes enormous costs to society, due to the harm it causes to employment, education and people’s finances. Nevertheless, the number of gamblers continues rising.

The Statista data show more than 80 million people worldwide started gambling online in the past four years, including online casinos, sports betting, poker rooms and lottery. In 2019, the entire market had over 95 million users, and now there are 176 million. Statista expects this figure to jump over 210 million in the next two years.

Online sports betting apps and websites have the highest number of users, 127.8 million as of this year, up from 60.3 million in 2019. Statista expects this figure to grow to 156.9 million by 2025.

Online casinos, the second-largest segment by user count, follow with a 62% increase in four years and 94.1 million users in 2023. This figure is forecast to touch almost 112 million in the next two years.

Jastra Kranjec