How the Columbian Market compares to other Latam Markets

Colombia is among the strongest economies in the LATAM region with one of the highest gross domestic product (GDPs) in the region. It is also home to one of the largest populations in Latin America, behind Brazil and Mexico. Due to their significant size and economically empowered population, they are an interesting nation to focus on when we look at gambling habits in the region.

Online casinos are played in the region, and Colombia is no exception. While there are a population of high rollers, there is also a big market for low-deposit casinos and the average bet size tends to be smaller than in other countries. Players are driven to take advantage of promotions and online casinos with the best offers to make the most out of their deposits.

What games are of interest to Colombian Players

Sophisticated data collection now allows us to see a variety of useful statistics across the board to give us a better understanding of playing behaviours and preferences. An article written by IGB has highlighted that Colombian players enjoy a mix of physical and online casinos, but as time goes on we are seeing an uptake in online gaming. These gamblers tend to diversify between slots and table games such as blackjack, roulette, and baccarat.

Slot games are fairly common and themes that are inspired by nature appear to be among the most popular in the region, which is interesting considering the significant presence of conservation within the nation. Another recent study by IGM show us that amongst the top-ranking game themes in Colombia are Fruits and Animals, both sitting at least 15% of the most played in the country. These are closely followed by Classic games and then Fantasy games, with Adventure games sitting in 5th place so far this year.

A closer look at this data reveals some of the most popular slot games so far this year, and while fruits and animals certainly are the most popular, this is not directly reflected in the top choices. Top games include Aviator, Book of Souls II: El Dorado and Wild Gold, while top content providers include EFT, SlotMatrix RGS and Spribe.

What features do they prefer in their game choices

Let’s look more closely at the features which stand out most in games. So far this year, players at online casinos in Colombia seem to prefer games with Wild features. This is notable in the IGB study showing that a whopping 91% of games being played include a wild feature, 60% of popular games have a multiplier, and 52% include a scatter feature.

Bonuses play an important part in the online gambling scene and it is of significant interest to online casinos in terms of attracting the right audience. Colombia is no different, and players are certainly attracted to specific types of bonuses. The recent data highted by IGB, shows a huge interest in players claiming free spins so far in 2024, with 70% of the top 10 games offering free spins as their main bonus. Free spins are without a doubt the most sought-after bonus, and this is common for many countries worldwide. In Colombia, they surpass other bonuses in popularity by 50% with the next most popular bonus option sitting around 20% in the most claimed bonuses in the country.

Compared with another big player of online casino games in the LATAM region, Brazil shows quite a lower interest in the game features, playing 22% and, 26% multipliers. This could be due to more of a sports betting culture in Brazil, although both countries religiously follow football. It is possible that fans in Brazil bet more online, whereas in Colombia a more cash-based, brick-and-mortar approach is common. Another speculation is the simple one, that players have different interests in slots and features. When it comes to bonuses, however, we see how the two countries draw similarities, with more than 70% of the most popular slot games in Brazil offering free spins as their main bonus.

Columbian gamblers wagering behaviour

Players’ wagering behaviour in Colombia, despite having a growing demand for online casinos, is lower than others in the region. Even with the popularity growing in online betting, the average bet amount is quite low for a country in the LATAM market with a strong economy.

For this reason, we can assume that low-deposit casinos are most likely to do well in Colombia. With an average bet of .34 EUR and only about 5% of the top 20 games having an average bet size of over 1 EUR.

This is interesting when compared across the region, and to look at Colombia’s neighbour Brazil, as a country in the LATAM market with a close GDP and population, Brazil is rather different with this metric. The betting amount in Brazil is about 30% higher on its most popular games and the average bet size on average is over €1 across all games, in comparison to Colombia’s .34 EUR this is a stark difference.

Colombian players prefer to play games with medium volatility, whereas Brazil tends to go for higher-volatility games in general. Colombian players also tend to spend less time on average on games, based on a study looking at the top 20 games in each country so far this year. However, both countries play between 3-6 hours of these top games on average, which is more common for the LATAM region, and significantly lower than some countries in Eastern Europe for example.

What insights can be gained from Columbian players’s behaviour across other regions

Based on this data we get a decent insight into the way that people play at online casinos in Colombia. They tend to prefer low-deposit casinos, placing smaller wagers, with less time spent on games on average. The average betting amount is generally quite low, and players prefer a medium volatility slot game. The most popular theme of games played is often to do with nature, with fruits and animals being the most played. Their most significant bonus is the free spins bonus.

The best country in the LATAM region to compare them to here is Brazil, as we have been showing in examples. Brazil, on the other hand, tends to play at a variety of casino types, with a higher average time spent on casino games, although the difference is slight when compared to other regions based on some countries in Europe. The average bet size in Brazil is significantly larger, and the volatility of slot games is much higher. The most popular slot games in Brazil are Animals and Fantasy, although there is more of a range of games played in Brazil also. Free spins are the most popular bonus in both countries.

We can see that Brazil on average tends to be more interested in online gambling and playing a wider variety of slot games, with higher deposits and spending more time on these games. Sports betting is very popular in both countries, but there is more of a market for online sports betting in Brazil, which might be attracting players to spend time on other slot games also. One online analysis also puts this down to Colombia having a less mature online gambling market than Brazil. Not only restricted to sports betting, but gambling, in general, is still quite commonly played on machines in shops or bars and in a classic brick-and-mortar casino-style table game betting style. This is not uncommon for the LATAM region where cash is prevalent amongst punters, playing on physical slot machines in local stores.