PriceWaterhouseCoopers International have issued new research that forecasts a growth of 9.2% in the global casino and online gaming market over the next 5 years, to reach levels around $182.8 billion in the year 2015.

The research predicts that spending in these industries in  the US will rice by 5% from $57.5 billion in 2010 to $73.3 billion in 2015. On the other hand, the Asia-Pacific region will see a dramatic growth of 18.3% in spending to reach $79.3 billion, overtaking the US to become the world’s largest regional market.

David Trunkfield, Lead Gaming Partner for PwC said that the casino gaming market in Europe, Asia and the Middle East Asia has been severely hit by the economic recession with revenues slumping by 12% in 2009 followed by a further 7.2% in 2010. He continued, “We expect that revenues in Europe, the Middle East and Asia will reach $18.3 billion in 2015” yet, the weak economic conditions and the adverse impacts of legislation in some countries will slow the  growth.

PwC also stated that the online gaming industry continues to evolve as policymakers around the world attempt to bring the sector into a ‘locally licensed, regulated and taxed framework’, in contrast to the past, where online gaming consisted of fragmented legal and illegal spending served by operators licensed in different jurisdictions. Moreover, the research underlines that the current regulations are often unclear and open to interpretations, varying widely between different countries and across the different gaming platforms.

In particular, PwC notes that a good number of EU countries, such as Spain, Denmark and Hungary are setting up regulatory regimes for online gaming, particularly poker and sportsbetting, yet, these nations are facing this issue more complex than anticipated since any legislation enacted needs to be consistent with the overall EU laws.

Trunkfield also explained that it is better for countries to regulate the sector since otherwise, consumers will engage in illegal online gaming and revenues go to unlicensed operators. Therefore licensing and taxing will create more revenue and increase consumer protection. PwC also announced that the UK is planning to change its regulations to gain tax revenues that are currently being lost to offshore jurisdictions such as Gibraltar and Malta.