Blask has been featured on NEXT.io with a year-long market analysis that highlights a rare phenomenon in iGaming: countries that managed to grow every single month for an entire year.
Using Blask Trends, a smoothed analytical layer built on top of the Blask Index, the study tracked market momentum from September 2024 through August 2025.
Out of more than a hundred monitored jurisdictions, only nine markets stayed consistently “in the green” — signaling uninterrupted growth in engagement and volume. One country, Norway, moved in the opposite direction, declining month after month.
In an industry defined by seasonality, regulatory shocks, and short-lived spikes, such streaks are anything but accidental.
💡 Blask Trends filters out event-driven noise — finals weekends, one-off promotions, sponsorship splashes — and focuses on the slope of market movement. Green indicates sustained upward momentum; maroon signals contraction. Holding green for twelve consecutive months means that growth persisted through holidays, off-seasons, and regulatory headlines alike.
That bar proved high. Only a small group of markets cleared it.
🛠️ Read more: Blask Trends: see the signal behind the noise
Latin America: momentum that compounds
Several of the year’s strongest performers came from Latin America.
Mexico’s trajectory stands out not for sudden surges, but for its smooth, uninterrupted climb. A young, mobile-first audience, intense competition among operators, and regulatory clarity created conditions where each month simply built on the last. With the 2026 World Cup on the horizon, demand behaved less like a series of spikes and more like a steady drumbeat.
Venezuela followed a different path to the same outcome. There, rapid operator turnover, dollarisation, crypto payments, and social-driven acquisition transformed churn into momentum.
El Salvador’s growth was smaller in scale but equally consistent. Clear licensing, comfort with digital wallets, and low friction for first-time players produced an orderly, dependable incline — proof that clarity can matter more than size.
Asia: growth becomes habit
In Asia, the Philippines turned a breakout year into a sustained run. Domestic platforms and international brands expanded across casino, bingo, esports, and sports betting, compounding gains month after month.
Malaysia’s performance told a quieter story. Despite a restrictive formal framework, demand continued to spread via mobile access, mirror sites, and e-wallets. Periodic crackdowns slowed growth but never reversed it, leaving the trend line green throughout the year.
Africa: early-stage momentum that sticks
Africa’s green streaks came from emerging markets rather than headline jurisdictions. Malawi’s curve showed the classic shape of a breakout: mobile money lowered barriers, micro-stakes broadened participation, and once momentum took hold, it reinforced itself each month.
Gabon and the Republic of the Congo followed with steadier, lower-amplitude gains. Improved connectivity, permissive oversight, and exposure to European football nudged engagement upward without spikes.
The outlier: Norway’s steady retreat
Norway was the sole market to remain consistently maroon. A strict monopoly model, combined with sustained enforcement against offshore operators, narrowed choice and dampened visibility. Channelisation worked as intended — but at the cost of continuous contraction.
What the streaks reveal
Across the nine green markets, the same forces recur: plural supply that sustains competition, payment systems that remove friction, and regulatory environments — formal or tacit — that allow demand to express itself. Growth, in these cases, was not driven by events, but by structure.
Blask Trends turns crowded charts into readable stories by focusing on direction rather than noise. Over this year, the story split cleanly: nine markets advanced without a misstep; one consistently stepped back.
The implication for operators and policymakers is clear — momentum is not random, and once chosen, the line remembers it.
