According to a new report by Spanish gaming regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego the number of women playing online slots and other online games is growing and jumped more than 50 percent last year.
Men still dominate the online gambling market, making up 83 percent of players at licensed sites, but the number of females participating in the market rose 53.5 percent in 2015. That surge seems to be tied to that launch of legal online slots in the country last year.
Casino games saw the largest year-on-year participation gains, rising 80.4 percent in 2015. Bingo posted the second largest gain at 37.6 percent followed by sports betting at 34.4 percent. Online poker saw participation levels fall 2.1 percent, according to the report.
Active player accounts with Spanish-licensed operators totaled 985,000 in 2015, up 19.6 percent from 2014. The monthly average number of active players was up 16.2% but their average playing time fell 2.7 percent. About 70 percent of active players held accounts with just one Spanish operator.
Also according to the report, the average annual expenditure through these accounts was €293 and men spent more than twice as much (€322) as women (€146). The peak spending demographic was men aged 36-45 years, who laid out an average of €552, while the 18-25 female demo spent the least at €15.
