Electronic and online gambling overtook land-based casinos in the Philippines in 2025 as total gross gambling revenue reached a record P396 billion, according to industry data cited by digital gambling platform Buenas PH.
Revenue from e-games and other online platforms rose to P201.12 billion, accounting for slightly more than half of the industry total. The figures marked the first time the digital segment surpassed revenue generated by traditional casino operations.
Buenas PH attributed the shift partly to regulatory and tax changes introduced by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), including the reduction of the gross gambling revenue tax rate from 55% to 35% in 2024 and subsequently to 30% for e-games.
The company said the lower rates encouraged investment to move into licensed domestic platforms. It also pointed to the nationwide ban on Philippine offshore gambling operators, or POGOs, as another factor that redirected capital toward locally regulated gambling businesses.
“The industry’s growth signals a mature, structural evolution,” said Ellen Joy Almanza, managing consultant at Buenas PH.
“It proves that a compliance-first, highly regulated digital gambling landscape creates sustainable, high-value tech and corporate career paths, moving the sector far beyond legacy assumptions of an informal or localized labor market.”
The rapid expansion of online gambling has also changed the industry’s labor requirements, with operators increasingly hiring workers in software development, cybersecurity, compliance, data analytics, finance and online customer support.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s 2024 Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry showed that gambling and betting activities employed more than 38,000 workers.
Average annual compensation reached P688,750 per employee, the highest among industries classified under the arts, entertainment and recreation sector.
Pagcor has said the transition toward digital gambling is increasing demand for workers with technical and regulatory skills.
The agency has committed to “build a sustainable gambling environment that generates quality jobs, attracts investments, contributes to nation-building, and operates responsibly.”
Buenas PH said operators would need to expand their anti-money laundering and know-your-customer capabilities as Pagcor moves toward separating its regulatory functions from its commercial casino operations.
“The next five years will be defined by scaling sophisticated, specialized capability,” Almanza said. “Moving forward, operators must direct workforce investments into three critical pillars: embedding volume-scale Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance into operational roles, scaling predictive AI and data science to detect problematic gambling behaviors before they occur, and recruiting platform architects who can support novel digital formats like esports.”
The company said digital operators would also need stronger middle-management and supervisory teams to enforce player-protection, self-exclusion, and compliance rules as transaction volumes increase.
However, the expansion of online gambling has prompted concerns about gambling accessibility, addiction, consumer protection and the ability of regulators to monitor a rapidly growing number of digital transactions.
The industry’s continued growth will therefore depend not only on tax incentives but also on whether regulators and operators can enforce safeguards at scale, observers said.
