For a country of four million people, the figure is staggering. Panamanians wagered $2.94 billion on gambling in 2025 — almost exactly what the Panama Canal, the nation’s most celebrated economic asset, contributed to state coffers the same year.
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The 15% annual growth confirms a trajectory that has more than doubled the market since 2021, when total wagers stood at $1.37 billion. Slot machines remain the dominant format, generating $2.15 billion — more than seven out of every ten dollars bet in the country. Panama requires casino-grade hotels in the capital to have at least 300 rooms, concentrating table-game revenue of $146 million in a handful of large resorts.
But the real story is the digital shift. Online gambling brought in $587 million in 2025, an 82% leap that tracks a broader regional pattern visible from Colombia to Argentina. Mobile access and electronic lotteries now account for nearly 20% of the total market, up from a marginal share just a few years ago. First-quarter data published by Panama’s national statistics agency showed internet gambling growing at 48% year-on-year, the fastest of any segment. Polaris Market Research projects the country’s online gambling market alone could reach nearly $4.9 billion by 2032.
The regulated ecosystem is broad. Across the country there are 22 full-service casinos, 31 slot-machine parlors, 45 sports-betting venues, three bingo halls and one horse-racing track. Panama province alone hosts 76 of the 102 total gaming halls, though smaller provinces like Chiriquí and Colón are expanding. Add in the state-run Lotería Nacional de Beneficencia, which posted $846 million in revenue, and the combined gambling economy exceeds $3.7 billion.
The growth has a shadow. Health professionals and addiction specialists report a rise in problem gambling, amplified by the ease of mobile betting and the sheer variety of available products. The risk is especially acute in densely populated urban areas where digital access is highest and where the 18-to-35 demographic, the heaviest users of online platforms, is concentrated.
For policymakers, the challenge is familiar across Latin America: how to capture the tax revenue and tourism benefits of a booming industry without ignoring its social costs. Panama’s gambling machine is running fast. Whether regulation can keep pace is the open question.
For more context, read Brazil’s Morning Call and the Latin American Pulse.
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