Online gambling market openness index
How far is each market open to private, licensed online operators? The index turns the statuses in our regulation tracker into one score from 0 to 100, so markets can be compared at a glance. The most open markets we track today include Czechia, Kenya, Tanzania, Ukraine, Colombia.
The score measures legal access only. It says nothing about market size, taxes, competition or profitability, and it is not legal advice.
The most open markets
Openness by region
The average score of the markets we track in each region. An average over a few markets moves a lot: the Caribbean figure is a single licensing hub. Much of Asia and the Middle East keeps online gambling closed or in state hands.
Full ranking
Markets with the same score share a rank. Click a market for its regulator, law, key rules and sources.
| Rank | Market | Score | Online casino | Sports betting | Online poker | Lottery | Licensed consumer advertising |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CZCzechia | 100 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | yes |
| 1 | KEKenya | 100 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | yes |
| 1 | TZTanzania | 100 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | yes |
| 1 | UAUkraine | 100 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | yes |
| 5 | COColombia | 87 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | Restricted | yes |
| 5 | CWCuraçao | 87 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | Restricted | yes |
| 5 | IMIsle of Man | 87 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | Restricted | yes |
| 5 | PEPeru | 87 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | Restricted | yes |
| 5 | SESweden | 87 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | Restricted | yes |
| 5 | UGUganda | 87 | Licensed | Licensed | Restricted | Licensed | yes |
| 11 | HRCroatia | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | DKDenmark | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | EEEstonia | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | DEGermany | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | GHGhana | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | GIGibraltar | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | GRGreece | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | IEIreland | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | MTMalta | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | MXMexico | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | PHPhilippines | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | PTPortugal | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | RORomania | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | RSSerbia | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | SKSlovakia | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | ESSpain | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 11 | GBUnited Kingdom | 85 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 28 | LTLithuania | 80 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | no |
| 29 | BRBrazil | 74 | Licensed | Licensed | Restricted | Restricted | yes |
| 30 | AMArmenia | 72 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | Restricted | no |
| 30 | BYBelarus | 72 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | Restricted | no |
| 32 | BEBelgium | 70 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | no |
| 32 | BGBulgaria | 70 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | no |
| 32 | GEGeorgia | 70 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | no |
| 32 | LVLatvia | 70 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | no |
| 32 | NLNetherlands | 70 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | no |
| 32 | PAPanama | 70 | Licensed | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | no |
| 38 | ITItaly | 56 | State concessions | State concessions | State concessions | State concessions | no |
| 39 | ARArgentina | 55 | State or provincial | State or provincial | State or provincial | State or provincial | yes |
| 39 | CACanada | 55 | State or provincial | State or provincial | State or provincial | State or provincial | yes |
| 39 | NGNigeria | 55 | State or provincial | State or provincial | State or provincial | State or provincial | yes |
| 39 | USUnited States | 55 | State or provincial | State or provincial | State or provincial | State or provincial | yes |
| 43 | FRFrance | 50 | Prohibited | Licensed | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 43 | CHSwitzerland | 50 | Licensed | State monopoly | Licensed | State monopoly | yes |
| 45 | UZUzbekistan | 48 | Restricted | Licensed | Restricted | Licensed | no |
| 46 | AUAustralia | 45 | Prohibited | Licensed | Prohibited | Licensed | yes |
| 46 | ZMZambia | 45 | Restricted | Licensed | Restricted | Restricted | yes |
| 48 | ATAustria | 35 | State monopoly | Licensed | State monopoly | State monopoly | yes |
| 48 | CYCyprus | 35 | Prohibited | Licensed | Prohibited | State monopoly | yes |
| 48 | PLPoland | 35 | State monopoly | Licensed | State monopoly | State monopoly | yes |
| 48 | PRPuerto Rico | 35 | Prohibited | Licensed | Prohibited | State monopoly | yes |
| 48 | RURussia | 35 | Prohibited | Licensed | Prohibited | State monopoly | yes |
| 48 | ZASouth Africa | 35 | Prohibited | Licensed | Prohibited | State monopoly | yes |
| 54 | KZKazakhstan | 30 | Prohibited | Licensed | Prohibited | State monopoly | no |
| 55 | CLChile | 21 | Licensing pending | Licensing pending | Licensing pending | State monopoly | no |
| 55 | FIFinland | 21 | Licensing pending | Licensing pending | Licensing pending | State monopoly | no |
| 57 | NZNew Zealand | 12 | Licensing pending | State monopoly | Licensing pending | State monopoly | no |
| 58 | ALAlbania | 11 | Prohibited | Licensing pending | Prohibited | Restricted | no |
| 59 | AEUnited Arab Emirates | 10 | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | Licensed | no |
| 60 | HUHungary | 8 | Restricted | State monopoly | Restricted | State monopoly | no |
| 60 | MYMalaysia | 8 | Prohibited | Restricted | Prohibited | Restricted | no |
| 62 | VNVietnam | 6 | Prohibited | Restricted | Prohibited | State monopoly | no |
| 63 | BDBangladesh | 2 | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | Restricted | no |
| 63 | KHCambodia | 2 | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | Restricted | no |
| 63 | INIndia | 2 | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | Restricted | no |
| 66 | BHBahrain | 0 | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | no |
| 66 | CNChina | 0 | Prohibited | State monopoly | Prohibited | State monopoly | no |
| 66 | HKHong Kong | 0 | Prohibited | State monopoly | Prohibited | State monopoly | no |
| 66 | IDIndonesia | 0 | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | no |
| 66 | ILIsrael | 0 | Prohibited | State monopoly | Prohibited | State monopoly | no |
| 66 | JPJapan | 0 | Prohibited | State monopoly | Prohibited | State monopoly | no |
| 66 | KWKuwait | 0 | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | no |
| 66 | MOMacau | 0 | Prohibited | State monopoly | Prohibited | State monopoly | no |
| 66 | MDMoldova | 0 | State monopoly | State monopoly | State monopoly | State monopoly | no |
| 66 | NONorway | 0 | State monopoly | State monopoly | State monopoly | State monopoly | no |
| 66 | OMOman | 0 | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | no |
| 66 | PKPakistan | 0 | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | no |
| 66 | QAQatar | 0 | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | no |
| 66 | SASaudi Arabia | 0 | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | no |
| 66 | SGSingapore | 0 | Prohibited | State monopoly | Prohibited | State monopoly | no |
| 66 | KRSouth Korea | 0 | Prohibited | State monopoly | Prohibited | State monopoly | no |
| 66 | TWTaiwan | 0 | Prohibited | State monopoly | Prohibited | State monopoly | no |
| 66 | THThailand | 0 | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | State monopoly | no |
| 66 | TRTürkiye | 0 | Prohibited | State monopoly | Prohibited | State monopoly | no |
How the score is built
- Each product gets points for its status: licensed 100, state concessions 70, state or provincial licensing 50, licensing adopted but not open yet 30, restricted 20, state monopoly or prohibited 0.
- Online casino and sports betting count for 30% of the score each, online poker and lottery for 10% each.
- The last 20% reflects advertising: the share of the four products whose licensed operators may advertise to consumers in that market.
Because the index is computed from the tracker, it changes the day a market changes its law. See the regulatory timeline for what is coming next, and our methodology for how the tracker is sourced.
Questions
Which markets are the most open to online gambling operators?
Among the markets we track, the highest scores go to markets that license online casino, sports betting and poker and allow licensed operators to advertise, such as Czechia, Kenya, Tanzania, Ukraine, Colombia. The full ranking is above.
Does a high score mean a market is attractive?
Not by itself. The score measures legal access. Taxes, licence costs, market size and competition decide whether a market is worth entering, and a fully licensed market can still be expensive to serve.
Why do some large markets score in the middle?
Federations such as the United States and Canada license gambling state by state or province by province, so the country as a whole gets the middle score for state or provincial licensing even though some states are fully open.
Updated: