Asia’s online gambling market surpassed $12bn

According to Blask estimates, the total online gambling market in Asia slightly exceeded $12bn. The analysis covers the period from January to October 2025. The three leading jurisdictions, India, the Philippines, and Bangladesh, already generate more than $2bn each in annual customer spending.

Spending is distributed unevenly. The top 10 markets account for nearly 90% of total spending, and the region itself is described in the report as “a high velocity environment with rapid onboarding, low friction and near instant churn”, where the focus is on rapid onboarding and an equally rapid departure of part of the audience.

Blask’s methodology and data scope

The study was prepared by Blask. Customer Expenditure Base, or CEB, was used as the key metric, i.e., total annual spend generated by repeat gambling behavior, when a user returns and spends again rather than making a one-off transaction.

The report’s empirical base includes 156 regulated and unregulated operators and 4.1 million active wallets. Such coverage makes the picture more comprehensive, but raises questions about the comparability of individual markets, since the combination of legal and grey-market segments inevitably affects the completeness of coverage and the sensitivity of the metrics to local restrictions.

Top 10 markets by customer spending

Leadership in the region remains with a few countries, but the distribution within the top ten already makes it possible to speak of an established group of large markets whose scale is comparable to European niches. Below are CEB estimates in USD billions:

1) India, CEB estimate 2.54 billion dollars

2) The Philippines, CEB estimate 2.28 billion dollars

3) Bangladesh, CEB estimate 2.19 billion dollars

4) Singapore, CEB estimate 1.23 billion dollars

5) South Korea, CEB estimate 0.91 billion dollars

6) Thailand, CEB estimate 0.78 billion dollars

7) Vietnam, CEB estimate 0.74 billion dollars

8) Malaysia, CEB estimate 0.62 billion dollars

9) Taiwan, CEB estimate 0.59 billion dollars

10) Japan, CEB estimate 0.59 billion dollars

The gap between mid-tier markets is narrowing, and the tight range of estimates lies at roughly $0.59 to $0.78bn.

Active-wallet penetration and audience behavior

The active-wallet penetration estimate shows that a high CEB does not always mean the maximum user share of the population. In a number of countries, spending growth is driven by higher average spend per user rather than exclusively by scale:

• India, 1.7% of the adult population
• The Philippines, 2.1%
• Bangladesh, 2.6%
• Singapore, 3.4%
• South Korea, 0.9%

The behavioral profile across the region looks uniform. In all markets, mobile usage exceeds 88%, and Android devices dominate the traffic mix. Average monthly customer spend, according to the report, ranges from $31 to $84 and depends significantly on the maturity of the specific market.

India, the Philippines, and Bangladesh as the three main drivers

India retains its status as the largest market by spending. Growth is attributed to the rapid spread of UPI digital payments, low-cost internet, and the audience’s habit of fantasy sports and cricket betting. High wallet activation and low churn, i.e., the share of users who stop playing quickly, are noted separately. The main risk is that regulatory uncertainty can sharply change the rules governing access to payments and advertising.

The Philippines maintain a strong position thanks to licensing and visible enforcement practice. Average revenue per user (ARPU) is higher here than in India and Bangladesh, which gives the market resilience even amid seasonal demand fluctuations. The report emphasizes the role of affiliate channels and stable branded search interest. The caveat is related to dependence on the regulatory regime, which sets the framework for operators and marketing.

Bangladesh became an unexpected number three by spending volume. Growth factors cited include informal payment aggregation, localized marketing, and an extremely mobile-first usage pattern. A significant share of payment flows is built on peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers, which complicates control and statistics. The risks here are the most practical: sensitivity to enforcement volatility and to disruptions in payment infrastructure.

Across all three markets, there was a trend toward increasing interest in new game formats – from Plinko to crash games. We found such data in informational materials on industry websites from top search results. These markets also showed growing interest in online versions of local forms of entertainment. According to the data found, Andar Bahar casinos attract players oriented toward local flavor. The traditional card game of India is gradually becoming a standout in online casinos. The two trends considered became the main ones for all market drivers.

Singapore and South Korea as different demand models

Singapore stands out in that, with a small population, it demonstrates a very high level of spending. The country, according to Blask estimates, has the highest average wallet value in the region and stable engagement in casino products. The weak point of this model is concentration in the VIP segment, which is why revenue can fluctuate noticeably when the behavior of a small group of players changes.

South Korea differs in its demand structure. More than 35% of spending is associated with esports, whereas in most other markets the share of this area remains below 10%. The market profile is influenced by local culture and the legacy of PC cafes, where gaming habits were formed long before the mobile boom. The risk lies in the specifics of channels and audience, where successful mechanics do not always scale to neighboring countries.

A tight cluster just under $0.8bn and rapid payment reshuffles

Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Japan form a tight cluster just below the $0.8bn mark. In the report, their growth is linked to the expansion of payment APIs, strong influencer ecosystems, and stricter ad monitoring. At the same time, tighter controls, as a rule, lead to a reallocation of traffic across payment rails rather than the disappearance of demand.

Blask separately notes that “Regulatory disruption tends to push volume into adjacent channels rather than reduce total expenditure”. According to the report, payment bans usually last less than 30 days, after which traffic returns to levels close to pre-ban levels.

Expectations for 2026 and competitive advantages

Blask calls Asia the fastest-growing iGaming region in the world. Three markets already exceed $2bn in annual spending, and the mid segment is becoming more compact in terms of the gap in indicators. The forecast for 2026 is described as a continuation of structural growth provided there is no long-term collapse in payments.

The competitive advantages of operators in Asia in the report are reduced to three pillars, mobile acquisition, decentralized payments, localized content.

Note. All estimates are based on Blask’s analysis and on the definition of CEB as annual customer spending generated by repeat gambling behavior.