Smaller Indian towns witness 16x surge in online gaming spend
India’s smaller towns are rapidly embracing digital consumption, with a remarkable 16-fold increase in online gaming spending between 2019 and 2024, according to a Visa white paper on payments. This surge highlights the growing influence of digital services in non-metropolitan areas, transforming these regions into significant contributors to India’s digital economy.
Digital spending takes centre stage
Digital services in gaming, education, and entertainment have gained ground in smaller towns. Spending on digital content rose ninefold from 2019, while that on gaming soared 16 times. This highlights the growing richness and tech-inclined nature of the consumers in such areas.
Category C+ towns include Junagadh, Latur, Sangli, Tumkur, Karur, and Tirupur. Here are some smaller towns that have started to take off. Visa statistics reveal a 175 percent rise in overall card spend in the above towns since 2019 compared with a few percentage points increase in metros.
Affluence beyond metros
Consumers in smaller cities are spending more than ever before. The number of customers using a single card to spend over $2,313.19 annually has grown nearly four times in smaller towns, compared to a 1.4 times rise in major cities. This shift reflects a broadening of financial prosperity beyond metro areas, as smaller towns embrace digital convenience and higher spending power.
Gaming industry growth in India
The Indian video gaming market is booming with a trajectory, and in the coming year 2025, it would easily break $1 billion mark and further goes up to reach $1.4 billion in 2028, said a report of Niko Partners-India Market Model. Every year, it’s growing by 11.1 percent mainly because of more number of players in the sector along with technology and infrastructure investment.
The small towns have embraced online gaming as a form of entertainment, mainly due to affordable smartphones, good internet connectivity, and the emergence of various gaming platforms. In such a manner, digital access has been democratised, thus making gaming mainstream in these regions.
Digital payments power the transformation
The surge in digital consumption is underpinned by the increasing adoption of digital payment methods. Visa’s data shows that card transactions in smaller towns have grown significantly, with consumers preferring seamless and secure payment options for their online purchases.
The trend reflects India’s rapid digital transformation, as even smaller towns join the digital revolution. This growing digital economy is expected to fuel further growth in gaming, e-commerce, and other online services.
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