As the global gaming industry continues to evolve, one particular segment is proving to be everything it was expected to be, and more. Concerns about land-based casinos losing out to mobile gaming platforms appear to be well-founded, as online casinos are picking up speed and gaining a significant amount of traction, especially in the European Union (EU). From 2017 to 2018, the iGaming market increased 11% as 43% of all wagers last year were placed through online gaming portals.

According to the European Gaming & Betting Association (EGBA), the iGaming market saw €22.2 billion ($24.8 billion) in online gambling gross gaming revenue (GGR), up from $22.34 billion a year prior. Of the members of the organization, which include bet365, Betsson Group, GVC Holdings PLC, Kindred Group PLC, MRG and ZEAL Network, these reported 16.5 million active users that led to $6.04 billion in GGR. This was 24% of the EU iGaming GGR total and was shared between the members’ operations in 20 EU countries.

Of all the regions under the EU umbrella, the U.K. online gaming market was the most lucrative. It accounted for 34.2% of the market and, at the end of last year, had a market value of $8.15 billion when measured by GGR.

Offline gambling still is king, but the trend is definitely shifting. Last year saw the offline gambling market take in $82.09 billion, which was 76.8% of all the activity. However, it is also 4% less than it was a year earlier.