Online Gaming Market Set for New Growth

European online gaming market continues to grow.

Online gaming has been one of the fastest growing industries in the 21st century and there have been more good news for leading gaming operators as market research specialists predict the trend to continue in years to come.

Market research company Technavio predicts that the global online gaming market will witness an 11 percent growth in the 2016-2020 period, with the biggest growth estimated to take place in Europe, or more specifically United Kingdom.

At the same time, American Gaming Association (AGA) has found that the global market is worth some $37 billion per annum, despite the fact that only 85 of more than 200 countries have so far regulated their gambling markets.

The growth potential with regards to the United States market is huge considering that Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware are currently the only states issuing licenses to online gaming operators.

Meanwhile, European residents account for nearly half of the global market, as the European Commission claims that online gaming on the continent is worth approximately $15 billion per year.

The market is also growing at a faster rate than any other area in the world, with 15% growth recorded per year suggesting that Europe is becoming a Mecca for online gamers.

UK Leads the Way

It is hardly surprising that United Kingdom accounts for a large percentage of that figure, with UK residents having opened no fewer than 18 million gaming accounts so far.

Slot machines have seen an incredible 328% growth between 2009 and 2015, whereas table games saw a 52% increase and poker market rose 26%.

Even with UK Gambling Commission recently introducing a 15% Place of Consumption (POC) tax, UK remains a very popular market for leading gaming companies.

While France, Spain and Italy do not allow players from other countries to play at their licensed websites, UK laws allow gamers from around the world to play at gaming websites as long as the operators hold a UK license.