The global volume of illegal online gambling has reached $5.9 trillion
Gaming Compliance International has stated that unregulated online gambling has become one of the world’s largest economic systems. According to the company’s estimates, it is second only to the economies of the US and China in terms of scale.
The GCI Online Gaming 2025: Global report notes that the average global online gambling market remains structurally unbalanced. According to analysts, 78% of the market is accounted for by the unregulated sector, whilst only 22% is made up of the licensed and regulated segment.
Gaming Compliance International believes that the majority of consumer revenue is generated outside licensed and taxed platforms.
Analysts have also highlighted the emergence of a new market structure comprising three sectors. The first includes regulated platforms, the second comprises unlicensed operators, and the third consists of so-called ‘unrecognised’ products that utilise gambling mechanics but are not formally classified as gambling.
The company notes that consumers do not distinguish between these categories and perceive them as a single market.
Gaming Compliance International has dubbed this model the ‘white noise market’, where all services remain simultaneously accessible and compete with one another for the same audience.
The company’s CEO, Matt Holt, stated that the scale of unregulated online gambling goes far beyond a local issue for regulators.
Ismail Vali, President of Gaming Compliance International, stated that the emergence of a third market sector is increasing confusion among consumers and complicating regulatory oversight. According to him, users are increasingly interacting with products that combine elements of betting and gamification.
The company emphasised that to control the market, all segments of online gambling must be taken into account — regulated, unregulated and unrecognised.
As previously reported by ThePublic, according to a Kantar study, the share of the illegal gambling market in Ukraine has risen to 56.7% from 52.1% previously. This means that more than half of all bets in Ukraine are placed at casinos operating without a licence. Researchers estimate the volume of this segment to be around 61.6 billion UAH.
