European online gambling market shows significant growth

The European Gambling and Betting Association (EGBA) has shared the results of a large-scale study of the gambling industry in 2018. According to the organization, the sphere of online gambling grew by 11% during this period, and the same trend is expected for 2019.

The total volume of the market last year was 95.7 billion euros, of which 73.5 billion accounted for land-based gambling institutions, lotteries and bookmakers. Online casino revenues totaled 22.2 billion euros (23.2% of the entire industry), up 2.2 billion from 2017.

The association recorded record activity by Europeans to turn to gambling on the World Wide Web. Sports betting was the most popular (42.5%) and the share of online casinos, including slot machines, was 32.4%. Also the lotteries (12,6%), poker (5%), bingo (4,3%) and other games of chance are in demand on the Internet.

At the end of 2018, the most popular platform for accessing gambling online remained the personal computer. More than 57% of bets were made from PCs, while the remaining 43% were made from mobile devices. Analysts expect that by 2021, gamblers will be using mostly Android and iOS smartphones and tablets.

The association also predicts that online gambling revenues will increase steadily over the next three years. At the end of 2019, it is expected to grow to 24.5 billion euros, and by 2022, to 29.3 billion euros.