Online gambling grows in Europe
New market data shows that mobile gaming and online gambling are becoming more popular among Europeans.
Belgium.- The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) and H2 Gambling Capital have released new market data that pinpoints the growth of online gambling and mobile gaming in the European continent.
The online gambling market grew 11% in 2018, while its gross gaming revenue (GGR) increased from €20 million in 2017 to €22.2 million in 2018. The figures reflect a record-high online gambling share of Europe’s total gambling market.
The largest share of the online gambling market in Europe was claimed by the UK, which registered a 34.2%. This figure represents a market value of €7.3 billion gaming gross revenue, EGBA and H2 reported.
Moreover, the information shows that sports betting was the preferred online gambling activity among Europeans. It totalled 42.5% of the total EU market share, which is worth €9.4 billion in GGR. Casino games came in second place with 32.4% of the share (€7.2 billion GGR), followed by lottery and poker with 12.6% and 5% respectively.
57% of online bets happened from a desktop computer, while 43% of online bets were through from phones and tablets – up from 39% in 2017 and highlighting a shift towards the use of mobile devices.
Offline gambling’s performance
Offline gambling (lotteries, casinos, bookmaker shops, etc) had a total GGR of €73.5 billion, accounting for 76.8% of the overall EU gambling market. The total EU gambling market value was €95.7 billion GGR.
“Europe’s online gambling market continues to show strong demand-driven growth and a switch to mobile devices. But its increased popularity reinforces the need for more consistent and strong consumer protections and industry standards across all EU countries. The current situation of diverging and sometimes conflicting regulations in EU countries is detrimental to consumers, authorities and operators alike,” said Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of EGBA.
