A recent report by Global Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC) has revealed that $400 billion has been spent on gambling over the course of the past year. It states that casinos and lotteries are the highest earners of 2011, and there is even more room for growth in coming years.
According to GBGC, worldwide lotteries raked in the highest earnings, accounting for 27% of the revenue generated by gambling outlets. Casinos came in second place, with 28%. Next year, we could see a switch in rankings, as the casino gambling market continues to expand around the world. Thanks to the growth of Macau’s gambling centre and the construction of Europa Vegas, it seems very likely that casinos will overtake lotteries as the top earners.
Online gambling only accounted for 8% of the total gambling revenue around the world. However, there is still a great deal of room for growth. More and more countries are adopting legislations to regulate online gambling, encouraging more individuals to take part in the activity.
Analysts at GCGB anticipate gambling revenue to reach $500 billion by the end of 2014. This depends on the global economy, however – a crash of China’s economy could see revenue drop while America’s economic recovery could cause growth.
