Indonesia

Despite the current restrictions, the country's iGaming market has great prospects for development. According to 6Wresearch estimates, Indonesia's gambling sector could reach $8.54 billion by 2026.

What's in demand?

• 38% - Betting;
• 26% - card games (poker, blackjack);
• 15% - Slots;
• 11% is a lottery;
• 6% - Board Games (Qiu Qiu, Poker 99).

Tip: Indonesian players prefer games with a regional flavor - a familiar oriental atmosphere can increase their engagement.

What are the Indonesians betting on?

• Soccer;
• Basketball;
• Badminton;
• Cybersports;
• Combat Sports.

Target audience

Indonesians are a gambling people. This is due to historical and demographic factors of the country's development.

Casinos have been officially banned. The ban affected not only land-based casinos, but also online venues. This is primarily due to the fact that 90% of the country's population professes Islam.

Gender Differences:

There is an interesting dynamic in preferences between the sexes. Men in Indonesia tend to bet on sports, while women are more likely to choose casinos.

Online casino play:

• Women - 68%;
• Men - 32%.

Average age of players:

• 60,8% - players 18 to 24 years old;
• 37,1% - 25 to 34 years old;
• 1.3% - 35 to 44 years old;
• 0.8% - 45 and older.

Popular social networks among the users:

• Facebook - it is used by 95.7% of the population with internet access;
• YouTube - 45% internet users;
• Twitter - more than 8% of all tivts in the world are committed by Indonesians.

Legislation

Both land-based gambling establishments and online gambling format are banned in Indonesia. Despite this, the iGaming sector continues to grow rapidly:

• online gambling transaction volume from January to March 2024 reached over $6 billion. This amount is a significant fraction of the $19.5 billion transaction volume recorded for the whole of 2023
• Nearly 9 million Indonesian citizens participate in online gambling, among which 80,000 are children under 10 years old
• Only from October 20, 2024 to November 18 of the same year, the authorities found about 300 thousand illegal IP-addresses, 13 thousand units of gambling advertising on Meta platforms, 2.7 thousand - on Google and YouTube, 1.5 thousand - on Twitter
• According to the government's forecast, the turnover of illegal operators in the country could reach $61.6 billion by the end of 2024

These significant economic losses and underage participation in gambling emphasize the negative impact of the illegal industry on Indonesians' finances and the country's national welfare.

Based on revealing statistics, the complete eradication of illegal iGaming has become a top priority in Indonesian politics. We tell you about the recent measures that the country's authorities have taken to protect citizens from gambling and fight corruption among public officials.

Formation of a target group to fight iGaming

To eradicate gambling, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Technology (Kominfo) is already working together with the Office of Financial Services (OJK) to block gambling bank accounts, the National Police (Polri) and Meta. Nevertheless, the joint efforts do not result in a decrease in the number of illegal platforms.

In this regard, it was recently revealed that the Indonesian military (TNI) has set up a task force to internally monitor staff engagement in iGaming.

«There will be no mercy, no tolerance for violations by both soldiers and TNI civil servants,» said the TNI deputy inspector general.

In addition, the authorities intend to form an additional team to combat gambling, as well as create six interdepartmental units to strengthen the effectiveness of measures against the illegal sector and related problems:

1. Regional Chief Electoral Office
2. smuggling prevention unit
3. Division for the Eradication of Drug Abuse
4. foreign currency appreciation coordination unit
5. corruption prevention unit
6. Cybersecurity and data protection department

Local law enforcement agencies recognize that the international nature of the gambling industry effectively nullifies their efforts.

Officials do not miss a chance to take advantage of their official position

The intensified police crackdown on online gambling has led to the identification of about 4,000 civil servants associated with the industry. However, the involvement of officials in iGaming is only increasing.

Recently, police in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, confiscated $4.7 million in cash, 16 cars, 34 cell phones, 23 laptops, and two firearms from an online gambling syndicate that included 11 Kominfo employees.

The officials used their authority to maintain thousands of gambling sites, receiving a bribe of $540 for each untouched site. The defendants also used foreign currency to avoid detection by anti-money laundering authorities.

The identities of the civil servants have not yet been released, but authorities have confirmed that they were responsible for maintaining and shutting down gambling platforms and apps in Indonesia.

Hunt for Influencers promoting online gambling

Cominfo is now compiling a list of local influencers involved in iGaming and handing it over to the Garda Síochána for blocking. Recently, 85 influencers have been arrested for promoting gambling, not stopped by a six-year prison sentence for the offense.

While tightening cyber patrols to detect illegal activities, the authorities have also launched a website and chatbot for citizens to report illegal content, including gambling sites.

Since 2017, the ministry has blocked 5.2 million pieces of online gambling content.

In addition, local officials said they will monitor all possible ways to access the illegal sector, including the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) and conventional connections without VPNs.