Global unregulated online gambling market hits $5.9 trillion in 2025, per GCI analysis

(AsiaGameHub) –   A recent industry analysis by regtech provider Gaming Compliance International (GCI) estimated that the global value of unregulated online gambling reached $5.9 trillion in 2025.

GCI’s Online Gaming 2025: Global report, published on Sunday, showed a 4% increase from $5.7 trillion in 2024. This marks a continued upward trend, as the previous year’s figure of $5.7 trillion represented a 12% rise compared to 2023’s total of $5.1 trillion.

The analysis focused exclusively on online gambling activities and did not include retail or land-based gambling operations. Only operators actively conducting transactions and targeting local markets were included; websites that were accessible but not engaging in transactions were excluded.

GCI defined “unregulated” online gambling as licensed products transacting with consumers who are actively targeted locally.

This category includes various forms of gambling such as sports betting, unregulated prediction markets (excluding those in the United States), casino games, poker, crypto-based gambling, and lotteries.

According to the report, GCI used a combination of automated surveillance and human analysis to estimate both betting volume and gross gaming revenue (GGR) across the online gambling ecosystem.

To assess the market comprehensively, GCI analyzed user behaviors across all platforms using proprietary metrics such as “Value Per Visit” (VPV). This metric measured spending differences between regulated and unregulated operators.

Key findings

Unregulated gambling operators account for approximately 78% of global online gaming GGR in 2025, while regulated operators make up 22%.

GCI described the unregulated sector as the world’s third-largest economy, exceeding most countries in size after the USA and China. The report also classified unregulated online gambling as the largest form of cybercrime globally.

Research from H2 Capital released last week found that the UK offshore unregulated market hit £16.6 billion ($22 billion) in 2025, up from £5 billion in 2019—a growth of just over 230%.

In response to GCI’s report, its CEO Matt Holt stated: “With $5.9 trillion in wagering value, unregulated online gambling is one of the largest economic systems in the world, operating largely outside regulatory oversight.”

“Regulators are not dealing with a marginal challenge, but a dominant one—the majority of activity is taking place beyond the regulated perimeter. Our role is to provide full transparency across the entire marketplace, enabling regulators to act confidently.”

The report also introduced the concept of a “White Noise Marketplace,” where consumers struggle to distinguish clearly between regulated, unregulated, and “unacknowledged” gambling products.

Prediction markets and sports advertisement

Forecasts for 2026 highlight several factors likely to drive growth in unregulated gambling. These include spillover effects from loosely regulated sectors such as prediction markets.

Further complexity arises from crypto-linked gambling products and prediction markets. While the US regulates prediction markets under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), other regions often fall outside traditional gambling regulation. Brazil confirmed last month that prediction markets are illegal in the country, with telecom agency Anatel having already blocked 28 platforms. In contrast, Gibraltar licensed operator Predict Street as the territory’s first regulated prediction market.

The report also predicted widespread advertising through illegal sports streaming. It noted that “in 2024 and 2025, unregulated gambling advertisements appeared on more than 80% of illegal sports content streams in the US and UK,” with major events like March Madness and the World Cup contributing significantly to this surge.

At the beginning of the month, Ukraine launched an online tool designed to speed up public reporting of illegal gambling advertisements. The current statutory administrative fine for illegal gambling advertising in 2026 stands at UAH 5.19 million ($117 million).

Australia recently announced a package of national reforms targeting gambling advertising following the Murphy Report. This includes a nationwide ban on wagering ads during live sports broadcasts on free-to-air TV between 6am and 8:30pm.

UK MPs have recently framed gambling advertising as a public health issue, recommending a pre-9pm watershed ban on gambling advertisements and ending most sports sponsorship deals.