Countries that gamble the most

[kotajikikox]

I got curious what region of the world is the most popular for gambling and I came across a ranking of countries based on their total gambling gross loss. The Top 5 are as follows: 1) United States, 2) China, 3) Japan, 4) Italy, and 5) Australia. As I expected US is the first when it comes to gambling. Around 26% of US adults placed bets on the Superbowl in 2024, totaling around 23.1 billion dollars in wagers. This amount rose by approximately $7 billion compared to the previous year. Their total loss annually comes up to $116.9 billion. I am not surprised as well that China and Japan followed but what surprised me is Italy and Australia. Traditional gambling activities like Baccarat and Fibonacci also originate from Italy. Venice and Milan are two of the country’s largest gambling hubs, featuring over 15 casinos. But Italy did not strike me as a country where people specifically visit to gamble in.

So we have a country for almost each region: north america, asia and australia. Did any of the countries in the list surprise you? Is there a particular country you want to visit purposefully just to gamble? Whole list can be seen here.

[rachael9385]

I got curious what region of the world is the most popular for gambling and I came across a ranking of countries based on their total gambling gross loss. The Top 5 are as follows: 1) United States, 2) China, 3) Japan, 4) Italy, and 5) Australia. As I expected US is the first when it comes to gambling. Around 26% of US adults placed bets on the Superbowl in 2024, totaling around 23.1 billion dollars in wagers. This amount rose by approximately $7 billion compared to the previous year. Their total loss annually comes up to $116.9 billion. I am not surprised as well that China and Japan followed but what surprised me is Italy and Australia. Traditional gambling activities like Baccarat and Fibonacci also originate from Italy. Venice and Milan are two of the country’s largest gambling hubs, featuring over 15 casinos. But Italy did not strike me as a country where people specifically visit to gamble in.

So we have a country for almost each region: north america, asia and australia. Did any of the countries in the list surprise you? Is there a particular country you want to visit purposefully just to gamble? Whole list can be seen here.

United States are known for gambling, the highest amount of losses comes from the US and it keeps on increasing on a daily basis. Everyone knows that Las Vegas is the center of every gambling activity. This country has more addicts, and I will it's this way because of how easy it is to get money there. Even though people struggle it's not like a third world country that I live where getting a job is a problem.

[danherbias07]

I was also shocked that Australia is part of the top 5 after hearing the news recently about banning the gambling advertisements. I guess they are just doing it so that no online gambling companies will make profits out of their hometown gamblers. I mean, the money will just circulate in their country, which I think is a good thing.

I actually thought India and other populated countries would be in the top spot, but maybe because the percentage of poor people is higher than the rich, it's the reason they are not among the top countries that gamble the most.

[Eternad]

So we have a country for almost each region: north america, asia and australia. Did any of the countries in the list surprise you? Is there a particular country you want to visit purposefully just to gamble? Whole list can be seen here.

Japan surprised me on this list since I thought Gambling is completely ban on this country while only pachinko is the only gambling allowed.

It’s under the criminal code chapter 23 so I’m not sure why Japan is on the top spot with limited gambling games allowed for them to play.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambling_in_Japan

[Charles-Tim]

Is am surprised that Nigeria is not among but I know Nigerians are really gambling. I changed it from gambling to online gambling and I saw Nigeria to be among. You can check it here:

https://en.tempo.co/read/1881215/11-countries-with-most-online-gambling-players-in-the-world-including-canada
https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/10-countries-with-the-highest-internet-gambling-population/sm1zm72

I think the betting shops are still going to be regarded as part of it.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

I got curious what region of the world is the most popular for gambling and I came across a ranking of countries based on their total gambling gross loss. The Top 5 are as follows: 1) United States, 2) China, 3) Japan, 4) Italy, and 5) Australia.

<...>

Whole list can be seen here.

I'm surprised that Italy is in the top 5 and not the UK, although as far as I can see the UK is in the top 6, and not by much. I didn't know Italians were so keen on betting. I see Spain at number 10, which is in line with my experience of the UK, Spain bets but nowhere near as much as the UK.

[Agbamoni]

Good compilation of countries with the highest numbers of gamblers. I am not surprised to see US leading the group though, they have the highest and largest casino in major cities. Even tourist travel to come have a fun time in their casinos. Nevertheless I was surprised no African country was mentioned there. I may not know in other African countries but you see in Nigeria we have lots of gamblers. No joke, the numbers are increasing every single day both in online casinos and in local betting shop.

[BABY SHOES]

Didn't see what date this data was created?

But I was surprised to see Japan, Italy and Australia in the top 5 in the order of the most gambling according to the data, but the data shows realistic numbers, it's just that with these 3 countries it is rarely heard where many of its citizens gamble ... while for America it is no stranger to such a large total bet.

Maybe there are other countries that are bigger in total bets, but we don't know for sure about the survey.

Hong Kong is also not included in the list even though it is a large casino center.

[Findingnemo]

Italy is a big surprise compared to other names and when I googled I got different results which included Canada and Netherlands probably that's based on the average spending per citizen not based on total wagered size. Australia is unknown to me so I have no idea how people got their gambling practice while China got traditional way of gambling and their population numbers can make it to the top of the list if it's total wagered.

[GiftedMAN]

Is am surprised that Nigeria is not among but I know Nigerians are really gambling. I changed it from gambling to online gambling and I saw Nigeria to be among. You can check it here:

https://en.tempo.co/read/1881215/11-countries-with-most-online-gambling-players-in-the-world-including-canada
https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/10-countries-with-the-highest-internet-gambling-population/sm1zm72

I think the betting shops are still going to be regarded as part of it.

Likewise me I was was even expecting Nigeria to be among the top three but not seeing them here means that we are still learning or the small gambling shops are not included as you clearly mentioned. I don't know how authentic the list is but seeing Australia in the list again makes me wonder, I never knew that the country also gamble that much.

[YOSHIE]

Countries that gamble the most

Maybe I'm not surprised if I see the United States, and China is among the top five in gambling, that is a natural thing, but I don't see Britain ratings on the web I think Britain is ranked 2 after America and the third Australia, but it doesn't matter the fourth rank.

What I want to say is that Britain has a pretty good regulation in online gambling activities at this time in my view, Australia is also not less ranking in the amount The most casinos in the world and their activities in gambling, unfortunately Germany, France, Canada is not included in the top five.

I also saw from the results of the Droneemprit survey. About the most online gambling players, of course this is not ranked but most in Asia.

Indonesia: 201,122 players
Cambodia: 26,279 players
Philippines: 4,207 players
Myanmar: 650 players
Russia: 448 players

[Shinpako09]

It’s only Australia that shocked me. I didn’t expect that. I didn’t know they also have a high number of gamblers. The USA being number one is not surprising at all, and I think a lot of us already expected that. As for countries I’d want to visit just to try gambling, no, I don’t want to visit any physical casino, even here in our country. I’m already playing online, so I know what will happen if I get hooked in a physical casino, and I don’t want that to happen.

[Outhue]

I will collapse if United states of america is not on your list, I mean they have a whole city for gambling activities only, a place dedicated for crazy gambling  adventure, that's Las Vegas.

China also has something similar in Macau, which gains the world capital of gambling for that matter, lol what a crazy world we live in, and here I am thinking people are more scary of gambling today compare to past yests.

People are still seeing Macau and Las Vegas as dream land where their chances of coming back home as a winner is  possible, I wasn't expecting Australia to be part of the list, that's shocking, anyways thanks for bringing this up, I've never for once think of searching similar activities online.

[Charles-Tim]

I may not know in other African countries but you see in Nigeria we have lots of gamblers. No joke, the numbers are increasing every single day both in online casinos and in local betting shop.

What you think as the local betting shops will likely still be seen as online, unlike landbased casinos. I mean if you are referring to the betting agents that people go to place bets. This is different from gambling directly with the casino offline. Also those countries are very rich but if you check the my posts above, if it is online gambling, we should be there.

Is am surprised that Nigeria is not among but I know Nigerians are really gambling. I changed it from gambling to online gambling and I saw Nigeria to be among. You can check it here:

https://en.tempo.co/read/1881215/11-countries-with-most-online-gambling-players-in-the-world-including-canada
https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/10-countries-with-the-highest-internet-gambling-population/sm1zm72

I think the betting shops are still going to be regarded as part of it.

[DaNNy001]

I'm surprised to see Japan in the list, that country has strict rules that they abide by and from how disciplined they are assumed gambling would be considered illegal there... it's not surprise that america is ranked as the country that gambles the most...the highest gamblers in the world are from the United States of America... statistically we have more addicts in America more than any other country

[Makus]

I'm a bit surprised to see Australia on the top list, I wasn't expecting that though, I thought Nigeria would be among due to the wide spread of gambling activities in the Country. Well that ranking is based on the annual loss on the entire gambling activity but my country is mostly known for sport betting  and if it's a continental ranking we are top 1 in Africa and top 6 in the world. I'm also a huge fan of football betting and I tend to bet more especially when the team I support has a fixtures. However there is no doubt US would be in the leader board because they are widely know to be one of the most popular gambler especially American football.

[stompix]

Japan surprised me on this list since I thought Gambling is completely ban on this country while only pachinko is the only gambling allowed.
It’s under the criminal code chapter 23 so I’m not sure why Japan is on the top spot with limited gambling games allowed for them to play.

Simple, money!
They have a huge population and a pretty wealthy one, also the pachinko industry is nuts there, it even dwarfs some entire countries GDP.
Also, horse racing, I don't usually bet on Japanese races since the timezone is completely opposite to mine but they have a ton of grade one races and huge volumes on every single bet when a festival is on.

Is am surprised that Nigeria is not among but I know Nigerians are really gambling.

It doesn't matter how many gamble, what matters is how much they gamble.
And with the US gamling industry being nearly $250 billion, that's close to the entire GDP of Nigeria, basically everyone there would need to gamble it's entire wage to come close to those numbers. Nigeria barely has 3 billion in the gambling industry,  it's peanuts compared to the big guys.

[swogerino]

Normally the countries that gamble the most according to google is in the picture below that I am posting here for convenience, there has been such a thread a long time ago that asked about the same and intentionally if I recall correctly that thread asked the top 10 countries which gamble the most, it is exactly these countries that the picture below represents. Honestly I am extremely surprised to see that the list is being topped by Aussies from Australia as from far or distance they look like people that do not give a damn about gambling. In the end these countries will surprise you who gamble the most in the planet right now.

[Oasisman]

Well, nothing is so surprising about the USA leading gambling in every category. As we can all see, sportsbook, odds, spreads, and other sports betting related terms are what the sports casters talks about every single game. Even the commercials, casinos are always present. They are even a huge sponsors in mini games happening during timeouts and halftime.
However, I was expecting some countries in Europe would dominate the top 5. Looks like they're the kind of luxurious gamblers or maybe I'm just stereotyping here lol.

[Queentoshi]

...

Maybe the data only puts into consideration online gambling activities, and not really all the physical shops where gambling can be done because I'm thinking in my head that the rate of gambling in the country should directly but proportional to the rate of poverty and the rate at which people are in search of a better life because there are many individuals who are gambling these days for the purpose of money to make it an additional an extra source of income as you've noticed and the advice on this board has increased a lot about people being cautious about gambling for money.