End of an era for casinos in South Africa

South African’s interest in casinos is plummeting, as online betting has become the most popular form of gambling in the country, with no signs of stopping.

While South Africa’s gambling sector continues to grow strongly year after year, this is driven by betting, particularly online gambling, while income from casinos is declining.

This was revealed by the National Gambling Board (NGB) in its presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition on Wednesday, 15 October 2025.

According to the NGB, gambling turnover in South Africa reached a record R1.5 trillion in the 2024/25 financial year, up from R1.1 trillion in 2023/24.

Gross gambling revenue (GGR) grew by an extraordinary 26.48%, reaching R75 billion in 2024/25 compared to R59.3 billion in the prior year. 

Betting revenue constituted 70% of this total, bringing in R52.3 billion, driven primarily by income from online betting, which contributed 60% of total GGR.

In contrast, revenue from casinos made up 22% of the total, contributing R16.6 billion, which is down 4.1% compared to 2023/24. 

The NGB explained that the boom in online betting has significantly impacted physical casinos, which have seen their popularity dwindle over the past few years.

While the casino industry remains the second largest form of gambling in South Africa, it has declined significantly, with the Covid-19 pandemic playing a significant role.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdown regulations meant access to physical casinos was heavily restricted. 

While the casino saw a slight rebound post-pandemic, it has continued to decline since, largely replaced by online betting.

The NGB explained that this coincided with a decline in operational slots and tables across the country.

There were 21,813 operational slots in the 2023/24 financial year, which fell to around 21,370 by the following year. Similarly, operational tables in the country declined from 910 to 890.

The board said the growth in online gambling over the same period suggests that substitution may be taking place, with punters gambling online rather that at physical slot machines.

These trends also translated into the amount of taxies and levies generated from the betting and casino industries.

In total, the gambling industry generated R5.8 billion in taxes and levies, with betting contributing R3.42 billion of the total (59%), while casinos contributed nearly half that amount at R1.72 billion (30%).

Interestingly, the betting and casino industries still support a similar number of jobs, at 13,983 and 13,759, respectively.

The graph below, courtesy of the NGB, shows the trends in total GGR between the 2010/11 and 2024/25 financial years, with betting clearly taking the upperhand during the pandemic years.

Kissing casinos goodbye

Data from Statistics South Africa back up the trends revealed by the NGB’s presentation, indicating that casinos and gambling houses are being pushed to the side in favour of online betting.

This is a significant shift from the 2009/10 financial year, when casinos boasted 84% of market share, while betting only accounted for 10%

Stats SA’s report on the personal services industry, released in September 2025, showed that bookmaker and online gambling services experienced a rapid surge in income between 2018 and 2023.

These services outpaced all other activities over this period, including education, health, entertainment and recreation.

In rand terms, bookmaker and online gambling services generated R152.6 billion in 2023 from services rendered, a sharp increase from R10.1 billion in 2018.

At the same time, casino and gambling houses registered an annual decline of 3.3%. This places them among the bottom 10 worst performers in the personal services industry.

Stats SA explained that the popularity of gambling and betting activities can also be seen in the consumer price index, as it now accounts for 1.6% of total household spending.

The graphs below, courtesy of Stats SA, show the growth in online gambling and the decline in casinos, respectively.