Before being legalized in 1994, gambling in South Africa was still a popular pastime—it was just kept under wraps. However, following legalization, the country has secured its spot as the top gambling region in Africa.
The country is responsible for between 40% to 50% of all gambling revenue generated on the continent. And with the continuous growth the industry is experiencing, this percentage is expected to increase as more players begin trying their luck.
Among the explosive growth of wagers in the county, some notable trends have emerged. These highlight not just how the industry is growing but also show how Saffers (South Africans) prefer to gamble.
Industry Worth
At the start of 2020, South Africa was experiencing decent growth in the local gambling industry. Posting a GGR (Gross Gambling Revenue) of around ZAR 26.96 billion in 2016, the sector grew to generate a GGR of ZAR 32.65 billion in 2019.
However, the gambling industry was severely affected along with the national lockdowns placed on the country and the world due to COVID-19. By the end of 2020, GGR in the sector had fallen to just ZAR 23.25 billion—a decline of almost 29%.
The leading cause for this massive drop was that residents in the country could no longer access any of the 38 brick-and-mortar casinos. And while online casinos were readily available in the country, many people lacked confidence in using them as an alternative.
An extended nationwide state of disaster for almost 743 days (just over two years) due to the various stages of COVID-19 lockdown effectively shut down all casinos. Some, like the Sun International Naledi Casino, never recovered.
However, confidence in online gambling grew with players cut off from access. The end of the prohibition on physical casino access under lockdown level three also spurred gamblers back to their favorite pastime.
By the end of 2021, GGR in the country recorded an incredible increase of 48%—moving from ZAR 23.25 billion to a staggering ZAR 34.43 billion. This significant increase highlights the trend of growing players in the region.
Types of Gambling
Before the lockdown, casinos were the clear leader in market revenue in the gambling sector—excluding lotteries like the Daily Lotto. With almost around 56.3% of all GGR coming from casinos in 2019, South Africans made no illusions that slots and tables were their preferred way to gamble.
In 2020, however, the trend in gambling shifted drastically. Due to the ban on traveling to local casinos, sports betting skyrocketed practically overnight. Within just a few weeks, it was responsible for almost 99% of all gambling in the country—despite online casinos being available.
However, following the end of lockdowns, things didn’t revert to how they had been. While casinos saw a reported increase of 100% from 2020 to 2021, this doesn’t mean much considering they were closed for most of the former year. Once they reopened, they clawed back a 40% market share in the industry.
What remained at the top of the list and claimed 45% of the market was betting. South Africans have taken to the thrill of sports betting, like fish to water, and seem unable to get enough.
The trend has continued, with sports betting growing by an additional 19.6% between 2021 and 2022. A further 16.5% growth in this type of gambling was experienced between 2022 and 2023.
Online Adoption
One of the most significant trends in the market since the lockdown and in recent years prior has not been the massive surge in sports betting popularity. In fact, it has been the adoption of online gambling channels—previously only used by a small fraction of players in the region.
Before 2020, online casinos saw significantly less traffic in the country than brick-and-mortar ones. One of the reasons for this is that casinos in South Africa are entertainment destinations—not just gambling houses. Almost all of them offer dining options, cinemas, and other attractions.
With the ban on visiting casinos in 2020, players were initially skeptical about gambling online due to low trust in online gambling. At the time, operating online casinos within the country was also a grey area in the law—meaning people could only gamble online via casinos operated from outside the country.
With lockdown turning into months, however, more players chose to risk the chance of online gambling and moved to play on sites like those reviewed in detail on Casinos.com. With thousands experiencing the convenience of gambling online and sharing their experience, more players began registering accounts.
Due to this, at the end of 2020, around 10% of the nation was recorded as having gambled. Of these, 64% of players admitted to spending more time and money playing online than before. Thanks to mobile gambling, online adoption has also continued to grow.
Average Spend
Yet another trend that highlights the change in what players are gambling on and the growth in the market is the average revenue per player or ARPU. This benchmark depicts how much each gambler in the country is dealing in revenue from gambling (e.g., deposits, wins, and losses).
In 2017, while online casinos and sports betting weren’t very prevalent in the country, the ARPU for users was relatively low, with the online lottery being the highest. For lotteries, the ARPU was around ZAR 4,058 per year. Casinos clocked only ZAR 772, while sports betting was listed at ZAR 1,583.
Showing the trend of increased online casinos and sports betting usage, the ARPU in 2022 was vastly different amongst players. Online lotteries dropped dramatically to ZAR 3,743. However, they still maintained their place as the highest spend among players.
In the same year, online casinos recorded an ARPU of ZAR 1,770 (an increase of 129% from 2017), and sports betting ARPU was ZAR 3,305 (up 109% from 2017).
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