Women remain minority among Spain online gamblers but participation rising rapidly
Women still account for a relatively small portion of Spain’s online gambling market, yet their numbers are climbing quickly. New figures from Spain’s Directorate General for Gambling Regulation show that women represented 16.9% of online gamblers in 2024. Even with that imbalance, regulators say the pace of growth suggests a noticeable generational change in a sector that has long been dominated by men.
Authorities recorded 1.99 million active online gamblers across licensed platforms last year. Among them were 335,627 women. While it remains a minority share, the government analysis notes that female participation has been trending upward for several years and accelerated sharply between 2023 and 2024.
Age data from the report highlights how strongly younger adults are shaping the trend. Nearly 60% of female online gamblers in Spain are under 35, giving the group a distinctly younger profile than the broader gambling population.
The fastest expansion is happening among the youngest players entering the market. The group of women grew by more than 30% year over year. Researchers say the pattern reflects broader changes in gambling behavior as mobile apps and digital platforms make betting easier to access and increasingly woven into everyday online activity.
Even with their growing presence, women generally spend less than the average gambler. Female players deposited a combined €608 million ($703 million) into online gambling accounts during 2024. The amount represented roughly 13.3% of all deposits made in Spain’s regulated online market.
On an individual level, women deposited an average of €2,019 ($2,336) during the year, compared with €2,482 ($2,871) across the overall gambling population. Even so, the total amount deposited by women has surged over time. The figure has climbed 117% during the past five years, outpacing the growth rate of total deposits across the market.
Spending behavior varies by product as well. Sports betting and online casino games account for the majority of female gambling activity in Spain, while poker and bingo attract far fewer players.
The report shows a median annual loss of between €10 and €30 ($12 to $35), indicating that many players spend relatively small amounts. The average loss, however, rises to €539 ($624) per year, suggesting that a small group of higher spending users accounts for a large share of total losses.
Among the highest spending five percent of female gamblers, losses reached about €3,583 ($4,144) annually in 2023. The figure dipped slightly to €3,458 ($3,999) in 2024 as the number of new players entering the market increased.
Even as female participation grows, gambling remains a heavily male skewed industry. Industry analysis has long shown that men are more likely to gamble and tend to spend more, especially in activities such as sports betting and poker. The betting world’s male dominance also extends beyond players to marketing, leadership, and industry culture, shaping how gambling products are designed and promoted.
At the same time, some regions are seeing signs that gambling related harm among women may also be increasing. In Northern Ireland, referrals for problem gambling support doubled last year, with a noticeable rise in women seeking help. The figures were presented in a briefing to the All Party Group on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling.
The Spanish study also flagged an unusual trend involving identity theft linked to gambling accounts. Women accounted for 46.14% of reported identity fraud cases handled through Spain’s official protocol for victims of gambling related identity misuse, despite representing a much smaller share of overall players.
Taken together, regulators say younger women are entering the online gambling market at a faster pace.
Featured image: Grok
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