Unregulated Online Gambling Reaches $5.9 Trillion Worldwide

Unregulated online gambling reached an estimated $5.9 trillion in 2025, according to a new global report from Gaming Compliance International.

Good to Know

• GCI estimated unregulated online gambling at $5.9 trillion in 2025.
• The figure rose 4% from $5.7 trillion in 2024.
• Unregulated operators accounted for about 78% of global online gaming GGR.

The Online Gaming 2025 Global report covered only online gambling, leaving out retail casinos, betting shops and other land-based operations. GCI also excluded websites that were merely accessible in a market but not actively processing transactions or targeting local players.

Unlicensed Operators Take Most Online GGR

GCI defined unregulated online gambling as unlicensed products that transact with local consumers. The category included sports betting, casino games, poker, crypto gambling, lotteries and unregulated prediction markets, with the United States exception noted for prediction markets.

The 2025 estimate extends a multi-year rise. GCI placed the market at $5.1 trillion in 2023, before it climbed 12% to $5.7 trillion in 2024 and then another 4% to $5.9 trillion in 2025.

To build the estimate, GCI used automated surveillance and human analysis across the online gambling ecosystem. The company also studied audience behaviour across platforms and applied proprietary metrics such as Value Per Visit, or VPV, to compare spending patterns between regulated and unregulated operators.

The report said regulated operators made up only 22% of global online gaming gross gaming revenue in 2025. Unregulated operators took the remaining 78%, giving the black market a much larger share than licensed online betting and casino brands.

GCI also framed the scale in unusually stark terms. It described unregulated online gambling as the world third-largest economy by value, behind only the United States and China, and called it the largest form of cybercrime worldwide.

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