The online gambling market is known to be a male-dominated space, but the number of female gamblers has increased quite a lot in Spain over the last year.
According to a report by the Spanish gaming regulator, Direccion General de Ordenacion del Juego (DGOJ) the number of females participating in the online gambling market rose to 53.5% in 2015.
"While men still make up 83% of those who gamble with Spanish licensed sites, the ladies are quickly catching up thanks to the mid-year addition of slots as an online option."
Rise and fall of participation
Online casinos enjoyed the largest year-on-year participation gains that rose to 80.4% in 2015. Bingo was posted as the 2nd largest gain of 37.6% and sport betting was hot on its heels with a 34.4% rise. Video poker participation levels unfortunately took a fall of 2.1%.
Active player accounts with Spanish-licensed operators totalled 985k in 2015 which is a 19.6% rise from 2014. The average yearly spending via these accounts was €293 and showed that men (with €322) spent more than twice as much as women who spent only €146. The peak spending demographic was men aged 36-45 years and they spent an average of €552, while the female demographic was aged 18-25 years and spent the least at only €15.
Over 2.4 million players have registered an account with Spanish-licensed casino operators by the end of 2015 which is 25.3% higher than the total registered at the end of 2014. The growth pace is down 14 points from 2014 but the total of registered accounts was up by 36.7% totalling 5.45 million.
Women are quickly realising that online casinos are not just a place for men, but a place where women too can score some extra winnings.