Unregulated Gambling Market Grows to $5.9 Trillion, Ranks as World’s Third Largest Economy, GCI Reports

Gaming Compliance International (GCI) has revealed that unregulated online gambling reached $5.9 trillion in global wagering value in 2025, a figure that places it behind only the United States and China in economic scale.

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This massive growth confirms what analysts have called the “trillion dollar problem,” though GCI stresses it is far larger, a multi‑trillion‑dollar economy operating outside oversight. The report highlights how unlicensed platforms, ranging from sports betting and casino sites to crypto gambling and prediction markets, now dominate the global marketplace.

With 78% of gross gaming revenue flowing to unregulated operators, the sector has become the largest form of cybercrime worldwide. Matt Holt, CEO of GCI, warned, “At $5.9 trillion in wagering value, unregulated online gambling is one of the largest economic systems in the world, operating largely outside regulatory oversight.”

Social casinos, sweepstakes, skins trading, and contests are fast-growing

GCI’s analysis shows that online gambling can no longer be described as simply regulated versus unregulated. A third category, “unacknowledged gambling,” has emerged, covering products such as social casinos, sweepstakes, skins trading, and contests on platforms like TikTok. 

Ismail Vali, President of GCI, explained, “What we are now seeing is a three‑sector gaming marketplace in every jurisdiction, regulated, unregulated, and unacknowledged, and it is this third layer that is accelerating consumer confusion, unregulated growth, and regulatory complexity at scale.”

GCI’s report noted that online gambling is now the world’s largest cybercrime, with illegal streaming of sports events serving as a major recruitment channel. In 2024 and 2025, unregulated gambling ads appeared on more than 80% of illegal sports streams in the US and UK.

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“Regulators are not facing a marginal challenge, but a dominant one, the majority of activity is occurring beyond the regulated perimeter,” Holt added.

Regulators continue to battle black market worldwide

The report comes days after H2 Capital revealed that the UK’s offshore gambling market had surged to £16.6 billion in 2025, up from £5 billion in 2019, a jump of more than 230%. 

That sharp rise has added pressure on regulators worldwide to respond with tougher measures.

Australia has already rolled out a national reform package following the Murphy Report, introducing a ban on online keno and wagering advertisements during live sports broadcasts on free‑to‑air television between 6 am and 8.30 pm.

In Europe, Ukraine has taken a different route, with PlayCity, its regulator, launching an online tool to make it easier for the public to report illegal gambling ads. The country has also set its administrative fine for such violations at UAH5.19 million ($117 million) in 2026.

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