The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 has presented the 2024 Annual Report on Gambling Activity in Spain, prepared by the Directorate-General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ) and endorsed in July by the Plenary of the Gambling Policy Council. The report shows a significant increase in online gambling, with the number of active players rising by 21.63% compared to the previous year, reaching nearly 2 million users (1,991,550).
According to the data, this surge coincides with the reinstatement of so-called welcome bonuses—promotional incentives used by gambling operators to attract new users. These bonuses had been banned until April 2024, when a Supreme Court ruling annulled several provisions of Royal Decree 958/2020, including the article restricting their use. In response, and with the aim of protecting the most vulnerable groups, the Ministry led by Pablo Bustinduy has introduced an amendment to the upcoming Customer Service Act to explicitly prohibit such promotional incentives.
This is the first time that the annual report has been produced in collaboration with Spain’s regional governments and validated by the Gambling Policy Council. The document now includes territorial breakdowns, allowing for regional comparisons of gambling activity across different modalities (online and land-based). It also incorporates new information on self-exclusion registries and sanctions imposed by the competent authorities, enhancing both transparency and regulatory insight into the sector.
In parallel, the DGOJ has also released the 2024 Online Player Profile Report, which provides further insights into user behaviour. Among other findings, the report reveals that 459,266 new players registered in 2024, 85.70% of active users are between the ages of 18 and 45, and 83.15% of players are men.
According to Ministry data, gambling operators earned a total of €8.108 billion in 2024, based on the Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) indicator. Online gambling under state license saw the largest growth, with a 17.6% increase and total profits of €1.454 billion. By segment, these figures were distributed as follows:
Online casino: €730.71 million
Sports and other betting: €608.85 million
Online poker: €100.08 million
Online bingo: €14.94 million
The betting segment recorded the highest growth (23.80%), particularly driven by conventional fixed-odds sports betting and live betting. Online casino revenue also rose by 16.96%, largely due to slot machines. Meanwhile, online poker reported a 4.99% decrease.
In terms of marketing and advertising spend, gambling operators invested more than €526 million in 2024. Of this amount, €261 million was allocated to promotions, €203 million to advertising, €56 million to affiliate expenses, and €5.45 million to sponsorships. At the same time, the average number of monthly active accounts increased by 23.48%, with 1,433,715 active users per month. New account registrations also rose by 34.73%, averaging 151,898 new accounts each month.
Source of information: Ministerio de Derechos Sociales, Consumo y Agenda 2030