2012 Global Online Gambling Figures

Gaming consultants H2 Gambling Capital have released their global gambling report for 2012, showing growth in online gambling gross revenues continuing to out-strip the land based industry.

A snapshot of 2012 global gaming figures

Gross online  gambling revenues for 2012 were estimated at $33 (€25) billion, accounting for 8% of all gambling revenues and representing a healthy 7.2% increase  on the 2011 figure. By comparison, the traditional land based industry grew 3% over the same period.

Geographically, Europe is the by far the biggest market, although impending regulation in the US is expected to change this significantly in coming years. Here’s the 2012 market breakdown:

1. Europe: 46%
2. Asia Pacific: 28%
3. North America: 17%
4. Rest of World: 9%

The fact that the United States accounted for a pretty decent chunk of the market in a year before any regulated state markets had been established was not lost on the American Gaming Association. CEO Geoff Freeman, commenting on the report said,

“Americans account for nearly 10 percent of the global online gaming marketplace at a time when the business is illegal in all but three American states [Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware],”    

Segmentally, sports betting dominates with strong growth driven my mobile and in-play betting. Here are the breakdowns:

1. Online sports betting: 46%
2. Online casino: 17%
3. Online poker: 13%

Interestingly, poker’s share of the pie is decreasing after enjoying a long period of exponential growth. Also, live dealer games get a mention as one of the growth drivers in the online casino segment.

What the future holds

Growth, growth and more growth is the expectation from H2. They estimate global online gambling revenues to increase at a compound average rate of 9.3% to reach €42.9 billion by 2018, and comprise 11% of total global gambling. No doubt some of this bullishness comes on the back of the regulated US market factor.

It’s worth taking  a look back at H2’s 2010 forward estimates. Back then they expected the online market to be worth $36 billion in 2012.