As 2022 has shown, online gambling can face such hardships as a full-scale war and achieve its goals even under such conditions. The situation with gambling in Ukraine engulfed in war clearly displays the global trend of the gambling industry’s active development, despite the major challenges. No wonder the online gambling industry has become one of the top five most profitable global economy sectors in 2022.
According to a study, online gambling ranked second among the most profitable industries in 2022. Experts estimated the size of the online gambling market at USD 81.01 billion. In comparison, in 2021, the market was estimated at USD 73.42 billion. It means that, in just a year, the industry increased by 10.4%. When evaluating the market, all types of online gambling were taken into account, from betting to online casinos.
It is also important that 2022 was economically more volatile. Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has become the main global challenge, and the resulting logistical, financial, energy, food, and other issues destabilized the economic situation. However, online gambling still demonstrated significant growth.
Experts also expect the growth trend to continue for at least the next three years. By 2026, the online segment of global gambling may reach more than USD 115.13 billion. At the same time, one of the fastest growth rates may already be found in Eastern Europe. For us, this at least means that after defeating russia, we will be able to become a regional leader in this area if, of course, we introduce relevant legislative changes.
These statistics raise a logical question: why is online gambling growing despite the negative global economic trends? There are several reasons.
First, online gambling is a high-tech area based on modern IT technologies. Thus, the speed of the sector’s development and adaptation to various challenges is high. The example of Ukrainian online gambling companies operating during the war has demonstrated this very clearly.
Second, from year to year, there is a constant increase in the use of mobile devices. Today, in many countries, more than 80% of gambling traffic comes from smartphones and other mobile devices. It encourages gambling companies to create more new products specifically for mobile devices. This trend is one of the key market growth drivers.
Third, online gambling can quickly adapt to legislative changes in different countries since, unlike the land-based sector, it does not need to bring gambling halls in line with legal requirements, maintain them, etc.
Like most IT businesses, the online gambling sector will determine the future of the industry. Improving IT technologies and increasing their accessibility to users will allow the sector to develop, despite the negative global economic trends. In this situation, the main thing for the Ukrainian market is to legally prepare to attract investors after the end of the war. After all, we have a strong potential to become an Eastern European gambling hub in the next 5-7 years.