Australia’s Online Gambling Market in 2025 — Size, Growth, and Key Statistics

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Author: Archie Humphries Last updated: June 2026 Reading time : 7 min

USD 5.5 billion. That’s the size of Australia’s online gambling market in 2025, with projections pushing it to USD 9.0 billion by 2034 at a compound annual growth rate of 5.67%. I’ve been tracking these figures across multiple research firms for years, and while the exact numbers vary by source and methodology, the direction is unanimous: Australia’s online gambling market is large, growing, and increasingly shaped by the payment methods punters use to participate.

This article presents the key statistics defining the market — total value, user penetration, revenue per user, growth drivers, and how Australia compares globally. No narrative padding, just the numbers and the context that makes them meaningful.

Total Market Value — Online and Offline

Two numbers frame the Australian gambling landscape. The online market — sports betting, online wagering, and digital gambling products — sits at USD 5.5 billion in 2025. The total market including offline gambling — casinos, pokies, lottery, and retail wagering — reaches USD 15.88 billion in the same year.

The online segment represents roughly a third of the total. That ratio has been shifting steadily toward online for a decade, driven by smartphone penetration, regulatory frameworks that favour licensed online operators, and the simple convenience of betting from a couch rather than driving to a TAB.

The 5.67% CAGR projected through 2034 reflects a market that’s growing but not exploding. This is a mature market adding scale through broader participation and higher per-user spending rather than through the dramatic user-acquisition surges seen in newer markets like parts of the US. The growth is steady, structural, and less vulnerable to the boom-bust cycles that characterise markets in earlier stages of legalisation.

For context, Australia’s total gambling expenditure is among the highest per capita in the world. The market’s size relative to the population — approximately 26 million people — produces statistics that international observers find remarkable. That spending intensity, combined with strong regulatory frameworks and high digital adoption, creates the commercial environment that supports diverse payment options including prepaid vouchers like Paysafecard alongside traditional banking methods.

User Penetration and ARPU in Australian Gambling

Gambling user penetration in Australia reaches 77.8% in 2025, with the market expected to serve 23.6 million users by 2030. Three in four Australian adults have some engagement with gambling products — a penetration rate that few other entertainment verticals can match.

Average revenue per user (ARPU) is USD 756.71 in 2025. That figure represents the average annual spend across all gambling users, from the casual once-a-year Melbourne Cup punter to the weekly multi-bet regular. The ARPU is meaningful for payment method analysis because it indicates the typical transaction volume flowing through deposit channels — a substantial amount that warrants consideration of which deposit method best serves different spending levels.

User penetration and ARPU together explain why Australia attracts both domestic and international betting operators: the market is large in absolute terms, high in per-user value, and growing in both dimensions. Operators invest in payment infrastructure — including integration with methods like Paysafecard — because the revenue per user justifies the cost of adding deposit options.

Gambling participation rates have actually dipped recently, falling to 58.8% in 2025 when measured by active participation rather than registered accounts. The distinction matters: penetration counts anyone with access, while participation counts those actively gambling. The gap between 77.8% penetration and 58.8% participation suggests a significant base of dormant accounts — users who signed up but don’t regularly deposit or bet.

Key Drivers of Market Growth

Three forces are pushing the Australian online gambling market upward, and each connects directly to how punters pay.

Mobile adoption is the first driver. More than 56.1% of Australian gamblers play predominantly online, and the mobile share of that online activity continues to grow. Mobile-first punters expect deposit methods that work seamlessly on small screens — a requirement that favours digital wallets and fast-entry payment methods. Paysafecard’s 16-digit PIN isn’t mobile-optimised in the same way a fingerprint-authenticated wallet is, but its instant processing and no-app-required model keep it competitive.

Regulatory reform is the second driver. The credit card ban of June 2024 removed a deposit channel and redistributed volume to alternatives. BetStop introduced self-exclusion infrastructure that, paradoxically, increases market confidence by demonstrating regulatory maturity. Advertising reforms will reshape marketing channels. Each regulatory change adjusts the payment method mix by either removing options (credit cards) or creating demand for alternatives that align with regulatory intent (prepaid caps, privacy-preserving methods).

Payment innovation is the third driver. The digital payment market in Australia hit USD 142.7 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 728.1 billion by 2034. That broader payment evolution creates new deposit and withdrawal pathways for betting: PayID for instant bank transfers, digital wallets for frictionless authentication, and prepaid solutions for budget-conscious bettors. Each innovation lowers the barrier to funding a betting account, which supports market growth.

Australia’s Position in the Global Gambling Market

The total global gambling market reached $574.55 billion in 2025, projected to grow to $728.79 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 4.6%. Australia’s contribution is notable: approximately 4% of global gambling revenue comes from a country with less than 0.4% of the world’s population.

That disproportionate share — ten times the population’s weight — reflects Australia’s cultural relationship with gambling, the maturity of its regulatory framework, and the high per-capita spending that ARPU figures confirm. Global gambling industry revenues hit $347 billion in 2024 with 18% year-over-year growth from 2020 to 2024, and Australia’s market growth has broadly tracked the global trajectory while maintaining its outsized per-capita position.

Within the Asia-Pacific region, Australia functions as both a mature market and a regulatory benchmark. Countries evaluating online gambling legalisation often reference Australia’s licensing framework, responsible gambling measures, and the credit card ban as models — or cautionary tales, depending on perspective. That reference-market status attracts international operators, international payment companies, and international scrutiny in roughly equal measure.

For payment method companies like Paysafe Group, Australia’s market combines high volume, regulatory complexity, and demand for diverse payment options — making it a strategically important geography despite its relatively small population. The credit card ban, in particular, created a payment-method gap that doesn’t exist in most other major gambling markets, giving prepaid solutions an opening that’s unique to the Australian context. For a global perspective on how gambling markets and payment innovation interact worldwide, the digital payments in Australian betting analysis covers the broader trends.