Global Unregulated Online Gambling Hits $5.9 Trillion in 2025

(AsiaGameHub) –   In 2025, unregulated online gambling hit an approximate $5.9 trillion, as per a fresh global report by Gaming Compliance International.

Key Facts

• GCI calculated unregulated online gambling to be $5.9 trillion in 2025.
• This figure saw a 4% increase from $5.7 trillion in 2024.
• Unregulated operators made up roughly 78% of global online gaming gross gaming revenue (GGR).

The Global Online Gaming 2025 report focused solely on online gambling, excluding brick-and-mortar casinos, betting outlets, and other land-based gaming facilities. GCI also left out websites that were merely accessible in a market but not actively processing transactions or targeting local users.

Unlicensed Providers Capture Majority of Online GGR

GCI defines unregulated online gambling as unlicensed services that conduct transactions with local consumers. This category includes sports wagering, casino games, poker, crypto gambling, lotteries, and unregulated prediction markets—with a noted exception for prediction markets in the United States.

The 2025 estimate continues a multi-year upward trend. GCI valued the market at $5.1 trillion in 2023, which then rose 12% to $5.7 trillion in 2024 and another 4% to $5.9 trillion in 2025.

To develop this estimate, GCI used automated monitoring and human analysis across the online gambling ecosystem. The company also studied user behavior across platforms and applied proprietary metrics like Value Per Visit (VPV) to compare spending patterns between regulated and unregulated operators.

The report states that regulated operators accounted for only 22% of global online gaming GGR in 2025. Unregulated operators took the remaining 78%, giving the black market a far larger share than licensed online betting and casino brands.

GCI also framed the scale in strikingly blunt terms. It described unregulated online gambling as the world’s third-largest economy by value—behind only the United States and China—and labeled it the largest form of cybercrime globally.