Credit: Irish Times

When you think about gambling, it is common for people to talk about Las Vegas or Monte Carlo, but the real catch is that the biggest players in this industry are perhaps like the American beer -often close to water.

Only two countries -Singapore and Australia – trump the Irish as the highest gambling spenders in the world per capita. Aussies are also known to be big online spenders on slots, but not that much as compared to land-based gambling machines. Globally, the Irish are the biggest players as far as online gambling is concerned.

Some people claim Britain is a gambling sacred playground. However, the neighbors have also leveled up in online gambling, most particularly during the lockdown period in 2020. According to stats, the British spend about twenty-five percent less money than the Irish per year.

An astonishing discovery about gambling from the global perspective is that all European countries are leading the pack in their respective per capita spending. On the south side, both Malta and Cyprus top other countries while Britain and Ireland lead.

Online Gambling On the Rise

From as far back as the 2010s, online gambling has been on a steady increase. They average 15 percent growth every year. In 2020 alone, it has experienced a surprising boom in the number of users. This is due to more operators clamoring to invest heavily in getting a license.

Also, as a result of the explosion of varieties of services available on the internet, online gambling is fast becoming more attractive to more people out there. As live casino slots and live betting options become more available online, more gamblers are stepping in to try their luck.

Ireland’s Position in the World per Capita

Given that a combined value of approximately three billion US dollars is spent on betting and gambling on a yearly basis, this gives an indication that each Irish woman, man, and child spend approximately 500 Euros yearly on gambling. 

In 2017, according to the Economist, Ireland overtook America in the gambling terrain just after the online market was opened.

It can be argued, perhaps with some fact that such behavior is tied to culture. But from a broader perspective, it has more to do with the generally obsolete laws which are being explored by some operators to draw bigger crowds, and of course, the biggest losses. This explains the reason why most Irish are switching to online games and casinos as they provide a substantial level of thoroughness, accountability, and transparency. More interestingly, as people switch to gambling and betting online, most channels and affiliate sites like Betpack are stepping up the experience by offering expert opinions on the best betting sites with best bonus offers, popular sports wagering events, and how to safely make deposits and withdrawals.

It is reported that most people from Ireland would prefer trying their chances in a British casino online to using traditional or domestic platforms. This is probably due to the laws.

There is a high likelihood that new gambling regulations will be imposed in Ireland. However, it is not yet known how much of an impact this will pose on their ranking globally.

The Biggest Market is Still the United States

Of course, the US is only the fifth-largest spender per capita in the world, with Ireland and Finland ahead. They are yet still the biggest market for online betting and casino operators. This is an interesting fact given that the country has well above 330 million people.

As of 2019, over 120 billion dollars was spent by Americans on gambling. This is a figure that roughly doubles the amount spent in China, if we include Macau and Hong Kong in its statistics.

However, while these numbers overtake that of Ireland, which is around 2.7 billion, it is still a lot of money spent for a country with a population of fewer than 5 million people.