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In 2005, Germans spent around 3.3 billion euros gambling and betting online, 35 percent more than the previous year. Their neighbors in Austria spent 1.3 billion euros, while the Swiss only spent 0.3 billion euros according to a study conducted by consulting firm Goldmedia on the market potential of lotteries, casino games, and betting on the Internet in the "DACH" region (Deutschland, Austria, Canton Helvetia). Per capita, Austrians spent 177 euros last year gambling online, more than four times as much as Germans did (40 euros) and almost five times as much as the Swiss (36 euros).
The study believes that these differences are due to different regulations. Unsurprisingly, the study found that "liberal legislation on gambling apparently increases the intensity of gambling considerably among the general public." While all three countries have a ban on private gambling, Austrian law exempts betting from this ban. In addition, state providers can also offer gambling online in Austria, while this is only tolerated in exceptional cases in Germany and outlawed completely in Switzerland. More than half of the online gambling in Austria took place with state operators, who make up less than 20 percent of the market in Germany.According to Goldmedia's analysis, the limited offer of legal gambling in Germany and Switzerland has led to an extremely large share of foreign providers on the online markets there. As the study's author Michael Schmid put it, "If the government does not want to lose this revenue and its control of the Internet as a sales channel that is becoming increasingly important, online casinos and betting web sites that can be controlled nationally and are competitive internationally will have to be admissible in Germany."
