Culture, Economy, or Chance? What Fuels Gambling in These Countries?

By Natasa Milojevic

Key highlights:

• 4.2 billion people take their chance at gambling at least once a year
• The US, Australia, Macau, The Netherlands, Canada, the UK, France, and Germany are the biggest spenders in the gambling world
• Czech gamblers bet $76.80 yearly, while the US players deposit 25 times more — $1,918. 
• 8 out of 9 top gambling nations put player safety first
• In Macau, players spend more than 52.3% of their disposable income on gambling
• Some of the world’s biggest gambling nations have been betting for 300+ years

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Not every player in the world gambles through the roof, but the ones who do probably live in Macau, Australia, the Netherlands, the US, or the UK. 

But why is that? Is it their economics, culture, or superstition? What’s leading people from certain corners of the world to fill up casino floors like there’s no tomorrow?

That’s exactly what we here at Casinomeister dug deep to unveil, and now we share our findings in the rest of this piece. 

Which Countries Gamble the Most?

Believe it or not, roughly 4.2 billion people gamble at least once a year. 

Yet, not everyone is betting at the same rate — some countries are taking the lion’s share of global gambling activity. But which countries are glued to the reels, exactly? 

To crack this case wide open, we referred to the Global Gambling Statistics compiled by the Gambling Industry News. We calculated what the average casino player spends based on the number of active gamblers and the gambling revenue ratio, and now we know which countries like to bet big. 

Country	Average spend on gambling
United States	$1,918
Australia	$1,603
China (Macau)	$1,354
The Netherlands	$1,264
Canada	$725
United Kingdom	$614
France	$552
Germany	$355

But these numbers don’t mean much if we don’t put them in perspective. How do these casino-loving nations stack up against countries that barely play? 

Well, in the Czech Republic, where only 25% of the nation gets in on the action, players don’t spend more than $76.80 on gambling per year! Stack this figure up against other countries in the table — the contrast is more than obvious. 

What Brings Together Countries That Gamble the Most?

While psychological research has proven time and time again that the core driver for gambling is the chance of winning, it’s only logical that there must be something more to it. If loving a win was all it took, we’d all be living in one giant, global Vegas. 

So, what’s the common thread then? Well, there’s more than one, and we’ve laid them all out. 

8 Out of 9 Top Gambling Nations Have Strong Player Protections

People who know their country’s regulatory bodies have their backs (especially if things go south) don’t have to think twice before pressing that spin button.

The US, for example, even with a patchwork of state regulations, still manages to offer solid player protections. Almost every state takes fair play and RNG testing pretty seriously, and deposit, loss limits, and reality checks are non-negotiable almost everywhere. So, fair rules, safe gambling, and players come first? No wonder 57 million Americans identify as active gamblers, as US Casino.com reports. 

But the UK doesn’t fall behind, either. They’ve already banned using credit cards for gambling in 2020, and casinos are even required to monitor player behavior and intervene if someone shows signs of problem gambling. The result? 25 million adults who gambled in 2023. 

The same goes for France and Germany. Operators in both countries have to let players set deposit and loss limits, but in Germany, they even take things up a notch — there’s a hard €1,000 monthly deposit cap for online gambling. 

Almost every single country where people really open up their wallets to gamble sticks to the same playbook — player-safety first. 

Macau stands out as the only exception, with regulations noticeably more relaxed compared to other countries we’ve singled out. Casinos have the choice to implement self-exclusion systems or skip them entirely, and online gambling still remains unregulated and unlicensed. This could likely be due to Macau’s laws being built around stopping financial crime, and not exactly protecting players. 

Still, since Macau stepped up its game against illegal gambling through stricter laws in 2024, it’s hard not to see a pattern between player protection and gambling action here, too. 

But you don’t have to take our word for it — you can look at the data yourself:

Country	Regulations
	AML policies, RNG testing and KYC policies	Responsible gambling measures	Strict licensing requirements (land-based and online)
United States	✅	✅	✅
Australia	✅	✅	✅
China (Macau)	✅	*️⃣	✅ ❌
The Netherlands	✅	✅	✅
Canada	✅	✅	✅
United Kingdom	✅	✅	✅
France	✅	✅	✅
Germany	✅	✅	✅

Key: 

*️⃣— Subject to individual casino policy

For Most Big Gambling Countries, Betting Takes Up Less Than 4% of Disposable Income

Having enough disposable income doesn’t always mean people are going to spend it on gambling, but it certainly does seem like there’s a connection between the sums people feed the slots and bigger paychecks. To get the real picture, we referred to OECD Better Live Index Data.

Let’s look into the US first — it’s the country with the most money funneled into betting. 

In 2024, the average disposable personal income per person in the US was around $63,668. This means that if the typical American spends no more than $1,918 a year on gambling, this only takes up a 3% slice of their entire disposable income. Small enough to be more of a pastime than a financial worry. 

Australia follows up with the US with $45,148 of disposable income per person, so 3,55% of their spendable cash goes to chasing wins. Still not a number that would cause financial doom. 

The rest of the countries follow suit, so the following table mirrors the previous one almost to a tee. 

Then there’s Macau, where a whopping 52.3% of disposable income goes straight into gambling. While it may look like Macau breaks the rule, in reality, they just follow a different kind of logic — especially when you compare it to other low-income places that don’t spend nearly as much. 

But we’ll get to Macau’s logic in the following section, now let’s go over the numbers. 

Country	Average disposable income	Percent of disposable income spent on gambling
United States	$63,668	3%
Australia	$45,148	3.55%
United Kingdom	$42,956	1.43%
The Netherlands	$39,984	3.16%
Germany	$38,971	0.91%
Canada	$34,421	2.11%
France	$34,375	1.61%
China (Macau)	$2,590	52.3%

Some Gambling Nations Have Been Betting for 300+ Years

Sometimes, answers to what nudges certain countries towards reels can also be found if we look far back in history or strip away the cultural layers that shaped it.

First, let’s rewind about 300 years to the 18th century in the Netherlands when the Dutch came up with the first known state lottery — the Staatsloterij. It seems like that was the moment gambling became a deeply ingrained part of Dutch culture. 

Little by little, the Staatsloterij became synonymous with a sense of unity and tradition. $1,264 and millions of Dutch people participating in the New Year’s Eve Draw later, it’s hard not to see placing bets as woven into Dutch culture. 

The US’s love for gambling is often summed up in the Super Bowl, but spending $1,918 per year on gambling could be traced to other aspects of the US culture, too. In fact, the very essence of the American Dream lies in ‘from rags to riches’ narratives and hoping for life-changing successes. Gambling definitely plays well into this belief.

Finally, Macau, the gambling capital of the world, hasn’t become a hotspot where players spend $1,354 a year overnight. We can find the roots of all-in gambling in Lunar New Year customs and the Chinese take on luck itself. 

Gambling for New Year’s is believed to set the tone for the next year, and there’s even a Chinese proverb that says ‘If you don’t bet, you don’t know how lucky you are.’ So, at its core, gambling in Chinese culture is so intertwined with attracting luck, that it’s no surprise Macau players bet big in the hopes of stacking their fortune. 

However, Macau is not the only place where old-time beliefs/cultural aspects meet modern-day wagers, and the following table clearly shows precisely that. 

Country	Traditions/cultural aspects/historical events connected to gambling
United States	American Dream
Australia	Two-Up (historically played on Anzac Day)
China (Macau)	Lunar New Year
The Netherlands	Staatsloterij (state lottery)
Canada	Slahal (stick gambling)
United Kingdom	Horse racing (going back to the Tudor period)
France	King Francis I legalized gambling in 1539
Germany	Baden-Baden and Wiesbaden

The Perfect Storm for Gambling: Rules, History, and Spare Cash

The story of why some nations bet bigger than others could probably go deeper, but that’s just the thing about research — there’s never one final answer.

Yet, the common thread is there, and it’s pretty hard to refute. When you pair up player safety, just enough disposable income, and history that backs the gamble — you get gambling revenue that goes through the roof. 

Whether this is something to be celebrated, it’s a story for another day. 

But what’s for sure is that as long as the house plays fair, players remain in the responsible gaming lane, and don’t go beyond their means, there’s still no reason to start sweating. 

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