Italy overtakes the UK to become Europe’s biggest gambling market

Britain has led European gambling for a generation. New 2024 figures hand the crown to Italy, and the numbers behind the switch say plenty about where the industry is heading.

For the first time, the UK is no longer Europe’s biggest gambling market. Figures from Italy’s regulator show the country’s gambling revenue reached around €21.6bn (roughly £18.9bn) in 2024, enough to move it past Britain and top the European table. Italians staked just over €157bn across the year, and the state collected €11.6bn in gambling tax.

The scale of the shift is easier to grasp with a longer lens. Two decades ago, Italians wagered around €25bn a year. That figure has since grown more than sixfold, helped by a steady opening of the online market since 2006 and easier licensing from 2010. For context, the whole of Europe generated about €123bn in gambling revenue in 2024, so Italy alone now accounts for roughly a sixth of it.

What the switch really signals is a market maturing rather than a British collapse. And in a mature market, players stop judging operators on brand names and start judging them on service. The one thing they care about more than almost anything else is how quickly they get paid.

That expectation has reshaped what a good online casino looks like. Casinos.com, which tracks the online casinos that pay out winnings fastest, reports that the quickest licensed sites now return verified withdrawals within minutes rather than days.

“At the top end, a verified player sees the money in minutes, while slower sites still take up to a full day, and most of that delay is identity checks rather than the payment itself,” one industry analyst said. The practical takeaways are simple enough: e-wallets clear faster than cards or bank transfers, most sites set a minimum withdrawal of £5-£20, and getting your ID verified when you open an account saves you a wait later.

Britain, for its part, is hardly fading. The Gambling Commission still values gambling in Great Britain at £16.8bn a year, and its rules on licensing, identity checks and safer gambling remain a template other regulators copy. Losing the top spot owes far more to Italy’s surge than to any decline at home.

Wherever the league table settles, the sensible advice for players doesn’t change. Set a budget before you start, and use the deposit limits every licensed site is required to offer. And if you’d rather spend the weekend well away from a screen, our guide to the walks around Haworth is a good place to start.