Europe’s online gambling market grew at a double-digit pace in 2018, with the UK counting for more than one-third of total revenue.
Figures released this week by the European Gaming & Betting Association (EGBA) show that the 28 member states that make up the European Union generated combined online gambling revenue of €22.2b in 2018, 11% higher than the EGBA reported in its 2017 market report.
Of this online revenue, around €15.9m (71.7%) is classified as ‘channeled,’ which the EGBA and its H2 Gambling Capital partners define as online gambling activity that is “regulated in the same jurisdiction as the player.” Online gambling’s share of the overall EU gambling market was up 2.1 points to 23.2% in 2018.
The EGBA’s members, which include Bet365, Betsson, GVC Holdings, Kindred Group and Zeal Network, accounted for 24% (€5.4b) of 2018’s EU online revenue. EGBA members processed 31.6b bets in 2018, while the total number of online deposits and withdrawals hit 320m. That latter figure represents a nearly 10% decline from 2017’s 354m transactions, possibly reflecting the number of jurisdictions that imposed payment processing restrictions.
EGBA members boasted a combined 16.5m active customers in 2018, a more than one-third rise from 2017, while these customers placed (on average) a wager every 2.5 days, up from 17 days in 2017. The surge in activity likely reflects the impact of last summer’s FIFA World Cup action, which tends to draw in the betting wallflowers.
The UK market claimed a 34.2% share of EU online revenue, more than three times the size of runner-up Germany. France (8.8%) narrowly pipped Italy (8.1%) for third place, while Sweden ranked fifth with 5.2%.
Sports betting remains the dominant form of online gambling with a 42.5% revenue share, while casino ranked second at 32.4%. Online lotteries placed third with 12.6% while poker (5%) barely outpaced bingo (4.3%) for fourth place. In-play accounted for 63% of sports betting activity.
Desktop computers remained the dominant online gambling medium in 2018 with a 57% share, but this share is projected to fall to 44% by 2022 thanks to the inexorable rise of mobile devices, which gained four points from 2017.
