Data-Led Look at Women, Market Research and Online Play in 2026

The stereotype of the online gambler as predominantly young and male is becoming increasingly inadequate for understanding the digital gambling market. Men still gamble more frequently than women in most major regulated markets and remain substantially more prominent in sports betting and certain casino products. However, official data from Great Britain, Canada and Australia show something more nuanced: women are not simply becoming "more like male gamblers." Their product preferences, frequency of play and risk profiles can be materially different.

The UK Gambling Commission's latest annual data are particularly instructive. In 2025, 44% of women had gambled during the previous four weeks, compared with 51% of men. For online gambling, the figures were 34% for women and 42% for men. When lottery-only participation was removed, however, online participation fell to 12% among women and 20% among men. That distinction matters. It suggests that the expansion of digital gambling among women should not automatically be interpreted as an equivalent expansion in online casino or sports-betting activity. 

At the same time, data from Canada and Australia reveal persistent differences in product choice. Women have historically over-indexed in products such as bingo, scratchcards and instant-win games, while men have been historically significantly more likely to bet on sports, racing and casino table games.
The commercial implication for online casinos and casino apps is therefore significant: gender differences increasingly concern how people gamble, not simply whether they gamble. As European gambling becomes increasingly mobile, casino UX, notifications, payments, personalization and responsible-gambling systems may become as important to demographic expansion as the underlying games themselves.

The 2026 Gambling Market: Mobile Is Changing the Demographic Equation

The most important structural development behind changing gambling demographics is not gender. It is digitization. European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) estimates European online gambling gross gaming revenue at approximately €54.8 billion in 2026, rising from €47.9 billion in 2024 and an estimated €51.1 billion in 2025. Online revenue is projected to reach €59.1 billion in 2027. More importantly for casino-app operators, the channel is becoming increasingly mobile. EGBA data indicate that mobile devices accounted for approximately 58% of European online gambling revenue in 2024, with the share projected to rise toward 67% by 2029.

This matters when analyzing female gambling participation because mobile technology removes several traditional barriers to casino participation. A player no longer needs to visit a casino, betting shop or bingo hall. Gambling can take place privately through a smartphone, mobile website, PWA or native casino app. Consequently, the next phase of demographic growth may be less about persuading new audiences to "become gamblers" and more about converting existing occasional lottery, bingo, scratchcard and casual-gaming behaviors into digital formats.

Gender and Gambling: What the Data Actually Say

Men Still Gamble More Than Women

The strongest available datasets do not support the claim that the gender gap has disappeared.
According to the UK Gambling Commission's 2025 Gambling Survey for Great Britain:

2024 Data	Men	Women
Gambled in previous 4 weeks	51%	44%
Non-lottery gambling	30%	24%
Online gambling	42%	34%
Online gambling excluding lottery-only	20%	12%
In-person gambling	29%	27%

Source: UK Gambling Commission, 2025. Interestingly, however, the gender gap is relatively stable.

The 2024 data showed 51% participation among men and 44% among women, while online gambling participation stood at 41% and 34%, respectively. In other words, the available evidence does not show women suddenly overtaking men in gambling. Instead, it shows a substantial female consumer market whose behavior differs by product category.

Women Are Gambling Differently and Product Choice Is the Key

Canadian data provide one of the clearest examples. Statistics Canada found that 69% of men and 60% of women had gambled during the previous year in its underlying national dataset. Yet participation differed considerably by product. Sports betting was reported by 12.1% of men versus 3.9% of women, while casino table gaming stood at 10.2% versus 4.8%. The pattern reversed in several other categories. Instant lottery tickets or instant online games attracted 34.8% of women versus 31.1% of men, while bingo attracted 5.7% of women compared with 2.1% of men. Australian data point in the same direction. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in a typical month in 2022, sports betting participation was 9.3% among men and 1.1% among women, while horse or dog racing attracted 10.1% of men and 2.2% of women. Scratch-ticket participation, however, was slightly higher among women at 5.6% versus 4.9% among men.

According to research conducted in Australia, a 2024 national prevalence pilot found that 35.9% of men and 28.3% of women gambled at least monthly. Among women who gambled regularly, lotteries, poker machines and scratch tickets were particularly prominent, while sports betting remained substantially more popular among men.

The implication is important:

The female gambling market should not be treated as a smaller version of the male gambling market. Operators attempting to attract more women simply by changing advertising imagery while leaving product architecture unchanged may misunderstand the underlying behavioral difference.

Age May Be More Important Than Gender

Gender alone also provides an incomplete segmentation model. The UK Gambling Commission found that overall gambling participation in 2025 was highest among people aged 45–64, but the picture changed once lottery-only participation was removed. Non-lottery gambling participation was 33 % or highest among the 25–44 age group. This creates two fundamentally different customer groups.

Older players

Older consumers contribute heavily to lottery participation and established gambling formats. Their transition online may be driven by convenience, familiarity, trusted brands, and simplified payment experiences.

Younger players

Consumers aged roughly  in the age bracket of 18–34 or 25–44 are more exposed to app-based entertainment, gaming-style interfaces, social media marketing, digital wallets, instant payments, and always-connected smartphones. They may consequently be more likely to encounter gambling as another digital entertainment product rather than as a destination-based activity. This distinction becomes particularly important when gender and age intersect. A 55-year-old female lottery player and a 25-year-old woman using mobile casino products may technically belong to the same "female gambler" segment while exhibiting almost completely different behaviors.

From Bingo Hall to Smartphone. Why Female Online Gambling Could Expand?

The shift toward mobile gambling potentially favors several characteristics historically associated with female gambling participation. Digital platforms provide privacy, convenience, short playing sessions, and access without entering male-dominated betting environments traditionally. The modern casino interface has also changed. Players encounter instant-win games, slots, bingo-style products, live casino, gamified rewards, tournaments, and casual entertainment within the same mobile interface. For operators, this creates a major strategic opportunity.

Geography Matters: Gender Differences Are Not Universal

Great Britain

Great Britain represents one of the world's most mature regulated online gambling markets. Women already represent a large gambling population, with 44% reporting participation during the previous four weeks in 2025. However, only 12% reported non-lottery online gambling compared with 20% of men.
This suggests meaningful remaining growth potential but also shows that lottery digitization accounts for a substantial proportion of female online participation.

Canada

Canadian evidence demonstrates particularly clear product differentiation. Women historically participated more in instant-win and bingo products, while men dominated sports betting and casino tables. For casino-app developers, Canada therefore presents opportunities around instant entertainment, mobile-first interfaces and personalization rather than relying exclusively on sportsbook-to-casino cross-selling.

Australia

Australia presents a different picture because sports and racing betting remain particularly male-dominated. The 2024 national pilot nevertheless found monthly gambling among 28.3% of women, demonstrating that female gambling participation remains commercially significant even where individual verticals are strongly gender-skewed. Australia also provides an important warning about younger online bettors and gambling harm.

Women, Men and Gambling Harm: The Risk Cannot Be Ignored

Market expansion cannot be analyzed responsibly without considering gambling-related harm. The World Health Organization [WHO] estimates that around 1.2% of the global adult population has gambling disorder. More broadly, around 5.5% of women and 11.9% of men globally experience some level of gambling-related harm. WHO also warns that digitization, smartphone availability and commercialization are contributing to the normalization and accessibility of gambling. That makes mobile growth simultaneously an opportunity and a public-health challenge.

Men Show Higher Risk - But Women Are Not a Low-Risk Market

Australian research among people who regularly bet online provides particularly useful evidence.
Among regular online sports and racing bettors:

• 25.3% of men were classified as high risk under the PGSI;
• 14.5% of women were high risk;
• 25.3% of men were moderate risk;
• 22.2% of women were moderate risk.

The age results were even more striking. Among 18–34-year-old regular online bettors, 26.1% were classified as high risk and 25.8% as moderate risk.
These figures relate specifically to regular online sports/race bettors and should not be generalized to the entire population. Nevertheless, they demonstrate why age, gambling frequency, and product type may be stronger risk indicators than gender alone.

The Hidden Risk of 24/7 Mobile Gambling

Mobile casino technology removes friction. Commercially, this is desirable. From a harm-prevention perspective, it can also be dangerous. Deposits can happen within seconds. Games are continuously available. Push notifications can bring players back into the product. Personalized promotions can target previous behavior. WHO specifically identifies high-intensity products, online casino games and high-speed wagering environments as areas requiring public-health attention. For casino apps in 2026–2027, responsible gambling therefore needs to move from the footer of the website into the product itself.

SWOT Analysis: Women and the Online Casino Market in 2026–2027

Strengths	Weaknesses
Large existing female gambling population	Female non-lottery online participation remains below male participation
Mobile removes physical-access barriers	Limited high-quality gender-specific behavioural datasets
Instant-win and casual formats already show female appeal	Generic casino UX may not reflect different player motivations
Personalization enables demographic segmentation	Over-segmentation risks stereotyping consumers

Opportunities	Threats
Better mobile UX for broader demographics	Increased gambling-related harm
Personalized rather than gender-stereotyped interfaces	Regulatory restrictions on personalization and advertising
Female-focused research and product testing	Reputational damage from targeting vulnerable groups
Responsible-gambling tools as competitive differentiation	Growth of unlicensed/offshore alternatives
Accessible payment and withdrawal journeys	Excessive push notifications and gamification
Age + behaviour segmentation	Younger players showing elevated risk in some online segments

What Casino Apps Should Do Differently

1. Segment by Behavior, Not Simply Gender

Operators should avoid assuming that all women want the same casino experience. Gender can contribute to analysis without becoming the entire marketing strategy.

2. Design for Short Mobile Sessions

If casual and instant-play products continue to attract substantial female participation, fast loading, simple navigation, and frictionless game discovery could become increasingly valuable. This strengthens the case for sophisticated PWAs and mobile websites alongside native apps.

3. Make Payments Feel Safe and Transparent

Clear withdrawal times, visible verification requirements, recognizable payment methods, and transparent transaction histories can reduce friction without encouraging excessive play.

4. Stop Treating Responsible Gambling as Compliance Copy

The strongest casino apps of 2027 may compete partly on player-control technology. Operators can differentiate themselves through accessible limits, intelligent session warnings, spending dashboards, and easy self-exclusion.

5. Test Products With Women 

Perhaps the simplest recommendation is also the most important. Product teams should conduct UX testing involving women across multiple age groups.

Forecast: What Happens in 2027?

Prediction 1: The Gender Gap Will Narrow Slowly, Not Disappear

UK data between 2024 and 2025 show remarkable stability in the headline gender gap. We therefore do not expect women suddenly to equal or surpass men across all online gambling categories during 2027. Instead, female digital participation should increase gradually as more lottery, instant-win and casual gambling behavior moves onto smartphones.

Prediction 2: Mobile Will Matter More Than Gender

Europe's online gambling market is forecast to rise from approximately €54.8 billion in 2026 to €59.1 billion in 2027, equivalent to roughly 7.8% year-on-year growth. If mobile continues gaining revenue share, demographic expansion will increasingly happen through smartphones.

Prediction 3: Product Differences Will Persist

Sports betting is unlikely to become gender-neutral in the immediate future. However, casino games, slots, instant-win products, bingo-inspired formats and hybrid entertainment could produce narrower participation gaps.

Prediction 4: Age × Gender × Product Will Replace Basic Demographics

"Female players aged 18–65" is too broad to be analytically useful. By 2027, sophisticated operators should increasingly model customers according to combinations such as:
age + device + product preference + session behaviour + payment preference + risk indicators.

Prediction 5: Responsible-Gambling Technology Will Become a Product Feature

As regulators and public-health organizations scrutinize digital gambling more closely, safer-gambling technology is likely to become more visible.
Operators that can combine personalization with meaningful consumer protection may possess a stronger long-term competitive position than those optimizing exclusively for engagement.

Diva Jackpot 2027 Scenario Model

Based on the available regulatory, demographic, and market evidence, we propose three broad scenarios rather than pretending demographic behavior can be forecast precisely.

Scenario	Probability*	2027 Outcome
Base Case	55%	Female online participation grows gradually; mobile continues gaining share; gender differences in product preference persist
Accelerated Digital Adoption	25%	Mobile/PWA adoption, instant payments and broader product design accelerate female participation
Regulatory Constraint	20%	Tighter advertising, affordability or product rules slow acquisition and overall online growth

*These analytical scenarios, not probabilities.
The base case appears most consistent with current evidence.
Women are likely to become increasingly important digital gambling consumers, but convergence does not mean identical behavior.

Are Women Really Gambling Differently?

The data suggest that they are – but the answer is considerably more sophisticated than the stereotype. Men still show higher overall and online gambling participation in major datasets. They are also considerably more likely to participate in sports betting, racing and some casino products. Women, meanwhile, demonstrate stronger relative participation in categories including bingo, scratchcards and certain instant-win products. Age complicates the picture further. Middle-aged consumers dominate overall gambling participation in Britain, while younger adults become more prominent once lottery-only gambling is removed. Among regular Australian online bettors, younger adults also display substantially higher levels of gambling risk. The biggest lesson for the casino-app industry is therefore not that "women are the next gambling market." It is that the one-size-fits-all gambler is disappearing.

The casino market of 2027 is likely to be increasingly mobile, segmented and personalized. Successful operators will need to understand the intersection of gender, age, technology, product preference and gambling risk rather than relying on conventional demographic assumptions. Operators that understand those differences without exploiting them may ultimately build the most sustainable products.

References

Australian Institute of Family Studies. (2024). Regular online bettors in Australia, 2023. Australian Gambling Research Centre. AIFS – Regular Online Bettors in Australia

Australian Institute of Family Studies. (2025). National Gambling Prevalence Study Pilot 2024. Australian Gambling Research Centre. AIFS – National Gambling Prevalence Study Pilot

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2025). Gambling. Australian Government. AIHW – Gambling Statistics

European Gaming and Betting Association. (2025). European Gambling Market – Key Figures 2025 Edition. EGBA – European Gambling Market Key Figures

Gambling Commission. (2025/2026). Gambling Survey for Great Britain: Annual Report 2024 – Official Statistics. UK Gambling Commission – GSGB 2024

Gambling Commission. (2026). Gambling Survey for Great Britain: Annual Report 2025 – Gambling participation and experience of gambling. UK Gambling Commission – GSGB 2025

Rotermann, M., & Gilmour, H. (2022). Who gambles and who experiences gambling problems in Canada. Statistics Canada, Insights on Canadian Society. Statistics Canada – Gambling Study

Statistics Canada. (2022). Gambling in Canada. Government of Canada. Statistics Canada – Gambling in Canada

World Health Organization. (2024). Gambling. WHO Fact Sheet. World Health Organization – Gambling