Online purchases by internet users increased by 17 percentage points compared with 2009 (Figure 1). Those aged 25-54 had the highest share of online shoppers among internet users up to 2016. In 2015, the youngest age group (16-24) overtook the EU average level, surpassing the level of the 25-54 year age group in 2019. Over the 20 years shown, the gross gambling revenue (GGR) in Europe has increased overall. However, since 2008 the GGR from offline gambling has stagnated and more and more revenue has been coming. Various forms of online gambling are legal and regulated in many countries, including some provinces in Canada, most members of the European Union and several nations in and around the Caribbean Sea. Online gambling industry statistics UK. In the UK, between 2009 and 2010, 4% of adults had bet online. It includes statistics about those forms of gambling that children and young people can legally take part in along with gambling on age restricted products. The findings are taken from the annual Young People and Gambling Survey, conducted in 2020 by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Gambling Commission. European Online Market. The European market is the largest market for online gambling worldwide, accounting for 47.6 percent of the total revenue. However, there isn’t a EU policy that offers regulatory guidelines for online gambling, therefore each member state has taken it upon themselves to regulate online gambling.

How many active video gamers were there in 2019?

There were 2.47 billion video game players worldwide in 2019. The figure will rise to 2.6 billion in 2020 based on a 5.22% year-on-year growth forecast. The global games market had $148.8 billion in revenues for 2019, 48% of which came from the Asia Pacific market.

Source: Newzoo; Statista

Gamers are not the minority TV and film paint them out to be. Newzoo reports there were 2.47 billion gamers in the world by the end of 2019. Growth has been steady with an average of 5.9% Year-on-Year (YoY) increase. 2020 figures are forecasted to reach 2.6 billion gamers that will earn the global games market an estimated $165 billion.

Games revenues for 2019 reached over $148 billion with 48% of market earnings generated by the Asia Pacific region. Growth in APAC was driven by demand from its 1.3 billion gamers.

The rise of subscription gaming services and cloud gaming has opened income opportunities beyond the sales of game titles and gear. Independent game developers can develop and launch their games without the need for a game publishing company. Gamers, on the other hand, can earn from tournaments and streams from their social media channels.

This article explores the number of video gamers, the biggest gaming markets, and other aspects of the gaming industry by digging deep into the categories below:

Number of Gamers Worldwide Table of Contents

Gamers’ Geographical Breakdown

Gamers make up a third of the world population and they are found everywhere. Leading the market in number of gamers and revenue is China.

China was a late starter in the gaming space with a small market compared to other mature gaming markets. The Chinese government actually enforced a 14-year ban on game console imports and sales amidst fears of the youth developing gaming addictions. The PC games market, not included in the ban, flourished.

PC-based gameplay soon gave way to microtransactions, and then social network games like the once overly popular Farmville, and eventually, mobile games in the vein of League of Legends.

Since 2015, a year after the game console ban was lifted, China has earned more gaming revenue than the US, with the figures reaching a record high in 2016 and then slowing down in 2018, when another government measure saw new games licenses being frozen due to renewed fears of gaming addiction among the youth.

Source: Statista; FinancesOnline market projection

Top 10 Countries By Gaming Revenue

The Asia Pacific region is well represented in the list with China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea placing in the top five. Combined revenues for the three countries surpass the revenues of the remaining countries put together.

Source: Newzoo

The Biggest Gaming Market

As of October 2019, China has 640 million gamers, the biggest number of gamers in the APAC region and the world. This translated to $36.5 billion in revenue for 2019. The license freeze in October 2018 slowed down the rate to 5.3% YoY growth compared to the 23% increase in 2017.

The US trails China with over 211 million gamers. The figures vary depending on the source and demographics counted but it is estimated that 67% of Americans play video games on various consoles with more than half playing on mobile phones.

Latin America and Southeast Asia are the fastest-growing gaming markets, with 253 million and 227 million gamers, respectively. Other important markets are the UK with $4.7 billion in market revenue and over 37 million gamers, and India with a gaming market value of $1.5 billion and a gamer count of 300 million.

Source: Newzoo; FinancesOnline market projections

China and the US are head to head in Newzoo’s Global Games report for 2019, with each country’s gaming markets worth $36.5 billion and $35.5 billion, respectively.

Source: Newzoo

The Southeast Asian region saw an enormous expansion in its mobile games segment. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are leading the way with $4.3 billion in revenues for the mobile segment alone.

Source: Newzoo

The biggest gaming markets per region include Mexico for Latin America with $1.8 billion in revenue, Turkey with $826 million for the Middle East, Germany for Western Europe with $6 billion, and Russia generating revenue of $1.8 billion for Eastern Europe.

Gaming Devices and Platforms

The games market can be broadly divided into five segments: browser PC games, console games, downloaded/boxed PC games, smartphone games, and tablet games. Smartphone games have the biggest slice of the pie with a 37% market share, followed by console games with 30%.

A contraction in the number of console hardware, peripherals, and titles sold worldwide led to adjustments in market projections for 2019 revenue — from $47.9 billion down to $45.3 billion.

The longer release cycle for new console models is a contributing factor to lower hardware sales. Gamers would rather wait for new console models instead of spending on current generation games.

Market Share per Gaming Platform

Mobile gaming makes up almost half of the total market with a combined smartphone and tablet gaming revenue of $68.2 billion. All segments have positive growth except browser PC games which dropped -15.1%.

Source: Newzoo

Number of Gaming Consoles Sold

2018 saw gaming consoles sold limited to five models from three major console manufacturers – PlayStation, Nintendo, and Xbox. Limelight Networks’ online gaming report found that video gamers aged 26-35 preferred using gaming consoles over computers and mobile phones.

Source: Statista

2019 gaming console sales grew 7.3% from the previous year but is forecast to be static at 31% from 2020 to 2022. Market analysts predict 2020 will be a slow year for console sales; the lowest since 2015.

Source: Newzoo

Cloud gaming is also forecast to put a dent on future gaming console market share despite the lukewarm reception to Google Stadia. The concept of gaming with no expensive hardware may give gamers pause to upgrade their current consoles and switch to a cloud gaming service instead. There is also the much anticipated Microsoft xCloud, still under development but will see release sometime in 2020.

Gamers’ User Profile

The real-world gamer demographic is more complex than the stereotypical gamer persona of a 30-something man-child living in their mother’s basement. The Entertainment Software Association released a study about the background and demographics of the American gamer with the following surprising insights: they’re civically involved, exercise more compared to non-gamers, and get the same amount of sleep as their non-gaming counterparts.

The average adult gamer prefers to play ca

Online Gambling Europe Statistics