Compared to the early days of the internet, when it was much more difficult to gamble online, the betting space has evolved dramatically now. The fast technological advancements aid numerous innovative companies to develop intriguing games across multiple verticals, such as slots. On top of that, the sports betting space has diversified – with plenty of interesting markets now open.

Considering how big of a continent it is, it can be difficult to get an overview of Europe’s online gambling market. But fear not, because we’re going to give you all the information you’re looking for today.

Keep reading to discover the true size of the European online gambling market. You’ll discover which countries have the largest industries, along with finding out what the potential of this space is. Without further ado, let’s dive in.

Where in Europe Is Online Gambling Legal?
Before we assess the size of European online gambling, it’s worth quickly overviewing where on the continent you can legally wager from your computer, smartphone, or tablet.

The vast majority of European countries allow some form of online gambling. You can see this in the formation of the European Betting and Gaming Association (EBGA), which serves over 20 nations. Other countries outside the EBGA to include legal gambling are Switzerland and Ukraine.

It’s worth noting that while many countries in Europe allow commercial online gambling, some – like Norway and Finland – have a monopoly. Meanwhile, Poland, Slovenia, Austria, and Hungary offer both commercial licenses and an online gambling monopoly.

Who Regulates Online Gambling in Europe?

Each European country forms its own gambling laws, regardless of whether they’re an EU/EEA member state or not. As a result, legislation is often more complex in some nations. For example, until recent re-regulation in Germany, online casino gambling was only permitted in the state of Schleswig-Holstein.

Although each European country forms its own gambling laws, there is closer cooperation between many nations than on other continents. The EBGA, which we mentioned earlier, helps provide guidelines for operators in many countries. The UK also remains a member of the EBGA, even though the country is no longer an EU member.

An Overview of the European Online Gambling Space
When looking at the size of the online gambling sector in Europe, it’s important to remember that it’s difficult to determine how big all 40+ countries’ markets are. Nonetheless, several pointers highlight how popular games of this kind are. To make things easier for you to follow along with, we’ll first talk about the European gambling market as a whole – before delving deeper into the biggest individual markets.

How Big Is the European Online Gambling Industry?
According to Statista , the European online gambling market was worth $38.59 billion in the 2022 calendar year. These statistics included online casinos and sports betting, in addition to lottery gaming. Online casinos took the largest chunk of revenue, with $17.42 billion coming through the theoretical doors.

However, online sports wagering wasn’t far off. Across the continent, operators generated $13.76 billion in 2022. Online lottery games were relatively small in comparison, but they still made a creditable $7.41 billion for the same period.

In the past six years, online gambling revenue in Europe has skyrocketed. Compared to the figures cited above, online gambling companies generated “just” $9.7 billion in 2017 – with online sports betting amounting to $7.49 billion. Meanwhile, online lottery games made $3.93 billion.

It is worth noting that while online betting is sizable in Europe, it’s still nowhere near as big as land-based gambling on the continent. In the EU and UK, gross gaming revenue (GGR) for land-based wagering was €70.3 billion in 2022 – as cited by the EBGA.

What Are the Biggest Markets?
Europe has two of the world’s five largest betting markets, which explains a large proportion of its online gambling revenue. Let’s look closer at some of the most important places for online gambling on the continent.

The UK
The United Kingdom is Europe’s biggest online gambling market. According to statistics from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), gross online gambling revenue was £6.4 billion in the tax year running from April 2021 to April 2022. This was a significant part of the overall revenue picture, which stood at £14.1 billion when factoring in both online and offline wagering.

Gambling participation is also high in the country. As the UKGC also mentioned, 44% of the country’s adult population plays some kind of monetary game. The market is also well-known for its developed regulatory landscape, with a total of 2,419 gambling operators present.

Of the £6.4 billion online gambling revenue in the 2021-2022 financial year, online casino games took over half of the market share. They contributed £3.9 billion altogether, with the vast majority of that – £3 billion – coming from slot games.

Considering that the UK is a sports-crazy country, you won’t be surprised to hear that sports wagering was also popular among the general public. This vertical made £2.4 billion, much of which came from soccer (£1.1 billion). Meanwhile, remote bingo contributed £183.5 million.

Italy
While land-based betting is much more popular than online wagering in Italy, the country’s population is still partial to a good flutter on their mobile devices. As mentioned in statistics collected by the ADM and published on iGaming Business, the market’s annual GGR stood at over €3.3 billion by the end of 2022.

The above statistics covered legal online gambling in the country. However, it’s also important to remember that Italy has quite a big unregulated gambling market. Statistics are hard to process for these, but it’s quite possible that the official figure would be much higher if those games were taken into consideration.

Germany
Despite having complex gambling regulations until recently, Germany is also an essential player in the European online gambling scene. As mentioned by Statista, the EU’s largest country by population is expected to generate €4.8 billion in online gambling revenue by the end of 2023. Compared to 2022, that would represent a 12.3% annual increase.

A large chunk of Germany’s projected online gambling revenue comes from sports betting. According to the same figures in Statista, we can expect this vertical to grow to €1.79 billion in GGR by the end of the year.

The country recently went through a major regulatory transition that opened the door to more online casino operators in the country. Online sports wagering was legal beforehand, but you now don’t need to solely be in Schleswig-Holstein to play online casino games. This should, as you may expect, help Germany to ensure that unregulated casino companies have less of an influence in Germany.

Player Behaviors in European Online Gambling
Now that you know some of the big players in the European online gambling space, let’s look at what people enjoy playing and their favorite devices to wager from.

According to the EBGA, most online gamblers in the EU and UK preferred to wager from a mobile device in 2021. However, the differences were marginal – with 51% choosing that platform and 49% opting for desktop betting instead.

So, where exactly do players spend their money?

If we look at statistics from the same year, online casino operators in these jurisdictions generated €13.6 billion in online casino revenue. This was the most popular vertical, but it wasn’t too far ahead of sports betting and horse racing (€12.9 billion combined).

Online lottery games were also popular throughout the EU and UK in 2021, generating €6.7 billion overall. Meanwhile, poker made €1.5 billion. Bingo and skill-based games accounted for €1.5 billion.

Overall, the percentages for sports betting were 35%. Online casinos stood at 39%.

What’s the Potential of the European Online Gambling Industry?
Despite the European betting market being well-developed already, there’s still huge room for growth in the online space. As we’ve already mentioned, online gambling – which is sizable – still does not make up the majority of betting market shares in most countries. One notable exception is Sweden, where online gambling forms well over half of all revenue in this industry.

If we look at the EBGA’s projections for the upcoming years, online gambling will still probably not reach the levels of land-based betting in the near future. However, it’s highly likely that the gap will continue to decrease. By the end of 2027, the association predicts that online betting in the EU and UK will amount to €54.3 billion in revenue. Meanwhile, land-based gambling in the same year will likely reach around €79.7 billion.

Of course, several factors could come into play here. For example, many European countries have become stricter on regulations with gambling-related advertising. Less exposure could result in fewer players wagering.

There’s also the prospect of regulation in both ways. It’s not yet clear whether other European countries will become more open to legal online gambling. The same goes for some nations that do have regulated online wagering, but only with monopolies.

Conclusion: All You Need to Know About the European Online Gambling Industry
Online gambling in Europe is huge and still has room for significant growth rate. Many European countries have tech-savvy populations and high internet penetration, both of which make it much easier for online game developers to create innovative and interesting products. Europe has two of the world’s five largest betting markets, and some of the most important places for online gambling are the UK, Italy, and Germany.

Liberalized regulations in many nations could also result in higher gross gaming revenue in the future. It’ll still probably take decades for land-based gambling to fall behind online gaming, but the gap will likely continue decreasing over the years.

FAQ

Is Gambling Big in Europe?
Gambling is big in many European countries, including the UK, France, Germany, and Italy. Combined, the 27 EU states and the UK generate billions in annual online and offline gambling revenue.

What Is the Market Size of Online Gambling?
The global online gambling market size is hard to guess due to several factors, including illegal gambling that isn’t recorded. But as of 2023, online gambling across the globe is worth more than $100 billion.

What Is the Largest Online Gambling Market in the World?
The US is the largest online regulated gambling market in the world, followed closely by the UK.