Unregulated online gambling is “world’s third largest economy,” new report concludes

The report estimates that the unregulated online gambling market reached $5.9tn in 2025.

US.- A new report from Gaming Compliance International (GCI) estimates that the worldwide value of unregulated online gambling reached $5.9tn in 2025. That’s a 4 per cent increase from the estimate of $5.7tn in 2024.

The Online Gaming 2025: Global Report concludes that unregulated operators accounted for 78 per cent of global online GGR in 2025. GCI described the unregulated sector as “the world’s third-largest economy,” trailing only the United States and China and labelled it the largest form of cybercrime globally.

The report also introduced the concept of a “White Noise Marketplace” where consumers struggle to distinguish between regulated, unregulated and “unacknowledged” gambling products.

The study analysed only online gambling actively targeting regulated local markets. GCI defined unlicensed gambling as products marketed directly to consumers, covering sports betting, casino games, poker, crypto gambling, lotteries, and prediction markets outside the United States. Sites that were accessible but not conducting transactions were left out.

Using a mix of automated monitoring and human analysis, GCI assessed betting volumes and gross gaming revenue (GGR). Proprietary metrics such as Value Per visit (VPV) were applied to measure spending differences between regulated and unregulated operators.

GCI noted the presence of unregulated gambling advertisements on “more than 80 per cent of illegal streaming of sports content in the US and UK in 2024 and 2025,” with events like March Madness and the World Cup fuelling exposure.

It also noted the impact of loosely regulated sectors such as prediction markets and crypto-linked gambling. While prediction markets in the US fall under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), many other jurisdictions lack clear oversight. Brazil recently declared prediction markets illegal, with telecoms regulator Anatel blocking 28 platforms. In contrast, Gibraltar has licensed Predict Street under its existing gambling legislation.

GCI chief executive Matt Holt said: “At $5.9tn in wagering value, unregulated online gambling is one of the largest economic systems in the world, operating largely outside regulatory oversight. Regulators are not facing a marginal challenge, but a dominant one – the majority of activity is occurring beyond the regulated perimeter. Our role is to provide full transparency across the total marketplace, enabling regulators to act with confidence.”