While we were all busy focusing on Macau, Singapore and events in the Philippines (as well as Thailand's failed attempts to legalize land-based casinos), has South Korea quietly grown into one of the biggest gambling markets in the world?
South Korea's regulated gambling industry generated KRW 26.27trn in revenue for 2025, up 2.9% year-over-year, according to the Korean National Gambling Control Commission's Gambling Industry Statistics 2025 report. While the report does not explicitly identify the figure as gross gaming revenue (GGR), it appears to be the equivalent measure.
South Korea has historically tended to focus on casinos, foreign visitor spending and tourism trends. However, domestic demand remains a major driver of the market, with lotteries, horseracing and sports betting accounting for a significantly larger share of regulated gambling revenue than casinos.
Domestic demand drives market
South Korea's regulated gambling market is built around a small number of state-backed monopolies, with each operator responsible for a specific gambling vertical. DongHang Lottery manages the national lottery, the Korea Racing Authority holds the exclusive licence for horseracing wagering and Sports Toto oversees sports betting, cycle racing, motorboat racing and bullfighting betting.
Shares of verticals in revenue:
Lotteries: KRW 7.66trn (29.4%)
Horseracing: KRW 6.42trn (24.7%)
Sports betting: KRW 6.82trn (24.3%)
Casino: KRW 3.70trn (14.2%)
Other: KRW 2.16trn (8.3%)
Online betting gains momentum
According to the commission, overall industry growth was supported by the addition of 665 lottery retail outlets and improved accessibility through online lottery sales.
Indeed, one of the most notable developments in the 2025 data was the rapid shift toward online gambling channels. Online horseracing turnover reached KRW 1.37trn, an 87.6% increase year over year, while online sports promotion betting ticket sales climbed 42.2% to KRW 1.22trn.
South Korea revenue by verticals (in KRW trn)
The Korea Racing Authority began a trial of online betting in December 2023 before officially launching the service in June 2024. Sports Toto had already established an online betting platform, allowing it to benefit earlier from growing digital demand.
The widely praised South Korean casino market accounted for 14.2% of total regulated gambling revenue in 2025, with foreigner-only casinos representing the largest share of casino revenue. This highlights that a significant portion of South Korea's gambling market is driven by domestic demand for horseracing, sports betting and lottery products.
It is important to note that even at Kangwon Land, the only casino in South Korea permitted to serve local residents, domestic players contribute a non-negligible share of total casino GGR, as it is the largest casino in the country.
State-operator dominated market nears liberalised European scale
Interestingly, South Korea's total gambling revenue of approximately $18.38bn places it in line with Europe's largest liberalised markets. It is above Germany, which generated $16.54bn in GGR in 2025, but below Italy, which generated approximately $24.9bn GGR in 2025. Italy and South Korea have very similar population levels, while Germany is larger than both.
These findings may not be surprising given South Korea's status as a high-income country with strong purchasing power compared with the global average. Nevertheless, gambling participation appears to be relatively widespread, despite limited gambling offering.
While South Korea's market continues to show stable levels on the back of strong local demand, some other Asian markets have faced declines, including the Philippines. PAGCOR's total revenue declined 26.64% year over year to PHP 43.32bn ($703.77m) in the first half of 2026.
Revenue from eGames, eBingo and bingo licensees recorded the sharpest decline, falling 41.85% during the period.
Domestic demand remains a major driver of the market, with lotteries, horseracing and sports betting accounting for a significantly larger share of regulated gambling revenue than casinos
Casino sector dominated by foreign still important and grows, but faces challenges
South Korea's casino sector generated aggregate GGR of approximately KRW 3.70trn in 2025, up 14.6% from KRW3.23trn in 2024. Casino GGR also exceeded the pre-pandemic level by 26.1%. The total covers all 18 licensed casinos in the country, including 17 venues restricted to foreign visitors and Kangwon Land.
Although casinos account for a smaller share of South Korea's regulated gambling market than lotteries and betting products, they remain an important segment of the industry. Total casino visitation increased 12.3% year over year to just over 5.97 million in 2025 from nearly 5.32 million in 2024. The figure represents 97.5% of the 6.13 million visits recorded in 2019, the last full year before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Looking ahead, recent market analysis suggests a second-half increase in Chinese group travel could provide a further boost to casino revenues. At the same time, the sector is facing regulatory headwinds.
Casino operators have raised concerns over government proposals to increase the maximum contribution rate to the Tourism Promotion and Development Fund, warning that higher levies could reduce profitability and limit investment in facilities and customer experience.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is reviewing amendments that would raise the maximum levy on foreigner-only casino operators from 10% to 15% of sales.
Korean casino operators recently pushed for a broader regulatory reform to strengthen competitiveness before the Osaka resort opens
