Juniper Research, an international investments analyst firm focused in the mobile and digital tech sectors, and headquartered in the UK, has released research forecasting more than 1 in 10 adults worldwide will partake in online gambling by 2019, with the UK and Italy claiming almost half of that projected estimate.

The accelerated growth is expected due to two primary causes. The first being the migration of lottery purchases to mobile devices, and second an increase in liberalized online access for Europe and the U.S., driven by the anticipation of the legalization of online sports book service.

Juniper’s Whitepaper “Mobile Gambling – The Winner Takes It All” reports that companies providing licensed online services in U.S. states where it is specifically legal (Delaware, New Jersey, and Nevada) have seen a dramatic increase in online-generated gambling revenues in the past two years. The research also confirms that in other U.S. states, unregulated offshore sites continue to enjoy high traffic.

The EU is taking a lead in loosening up policy through critical re-evaluation of their Anti-Money Laundering statues. However, prohibitive tax rates imposed upon licensed operators have become a concern, with some providers exiting their prospective markets. In such instances, customers merely switch to unlicensed operations thereby eliminating both regulation and tax revenue.

In June another market research report entitled “Global Mobile Gambling Market 2015-2019” was issued by Infiniti Research Limited, and predicted that the Mobile Gambling Market will see a 43% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of total annual wagers. An earlier study in May also focused on mobile gaming as well as increased regulation for the market.