The past three years have been an unprecedented time in human history. For much of the last three years, businesses have been closed, physical movement has been restricted, and spending patterns changed.
As a result, entire industries shifted—with few more so than the gambling market. We look at the latest figures for the Spanish gambling market to understand how the industry is moving back to its pre-Covid state.
Loosening of Covid Restrictions Impacts Gambling Market
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Spain imposed severe lockdowns and restrictions on physical movement of its citizens.
As a result, for a large portion of 2020 and 2021, in-person casinos were required to be closed. This led to a big upswing in the use of online casinos, and the growth of Spain’s online gambling market. Now, however, Spain’s Covid-19 restrictions are a thing of the past, and the country’s gambling industry is returning to its equilibrium.
The latest data shows that spending in land-based casinos is up, while the total spend online on gambling is down. The General Directorate of Gambling Regulation has reported that online gamblers spent 4% less over the past 12 months than they did in 2020.
This report shows that the average Spanish online gambler spent €523 (US$532), a figure down from €534 (US$543) in 2020. Active players also decreased, down by 0.6% to 1,470,303.
Understanding the Spanish Gambling Market in 2022
While the latest data on Spain’s gambling market shows that post-Covid there has been a shift back towards in-person gambling, one feature has remained consistent throughout.
Of the active gamblers in Spain, 82.73% are men and only 17.27% are women. This balance was not impacted by Spain’s shift towards online gambling and then move back to land-based casinos, and it has been at a steady ratio over the past two years.
Breaking the Spanish gambling market down a little further, we can see that the biggest spenders are those in the age range of 36 to 45 years old. This demographic spent on average €837 (US$852) per year—a stark contrast to the 18 to 25 years old bracket, which spent only €202 (US$205) on average.
Regardless of the shift between online and physical gambling, it’s clear that the industry has grown. In 2020, deposits were €2.27 billion (US$2.31 billion), while in 2021, they increased to €2.76 billion (US$2.81 billion)—a shift of 23.03%. This is an impressive growth, considering that the British population in Spain has steadily declined over this period.
Spanish Market Representative of Global Gambling Trends
The movement in Spain’s gambling market is representative of wider trends in gambling worldwide.
Head to a casino review site such as casinohawks.com, and you’ll see more online casinos available now in the United Kingdom than ever before. This is because, in the UK, the overall gambling market has increased in size and options available online.
Initially, this was fuelled by a shift towards online gambling, which has since decreased with the reopening of in-person casinos again. However, despite a drop off in online gambling in the UK, the online industry is still much bigger than it was before Covid-19. As a result, there has been overall growth in the industry in the UK—and much of the rest of the world.
