A study by casino experts MapleCasino analysed the total earnings countries have gained from eSports, along with the number of eSports players the country has, to establish which countries have the highest earning professional gamers.

The analysis revealed that Jordan has the highest average earnings per eSports gamer, with the country’s 84 athletes earning a total of $7,637,858 (€6.8m), which comes to average earnings per player of $90,926. The top two Jordanian players both play Dota 2 and make up 93 percent of the country’s total earnings, with Miracle- earning $4,830,742, and YapzOr earning $2,288,023.

Coming in at second is another Middle Eastern country, Lebanon. The country has won a total of $4,626,850 from eSports, and 77 athletes come from Lebanon, which works out to average earnings of $60,088 per player. Lebanon’s highest-earning athlete, GH, has earned 91 per cent of the country’s winnings from Dota 2.

Afghanistan is third on the list of highest-earning esports athletes, with $197,891 being earned from their five players, equaling an average earning of $39,578. Afghanistan’s highest-earning athlete, Asim, has won $188,328.93 from Call of Duty tournaments.

At fourth on the list, China has gained nearly $182,000,000 from eSports, the second-highest country total, just behind the US. There are more than 6,000 Chinese athletes, and this means they have earned an average of $30,000 each. 

Bolivia ranks fifth on the list, as the South American country has earned $497,850 from eSports tournaments. With the country having 17 professional players, it averages out to $29,285 per player.

Countries with the highest average earnings per player

The third Asian country to appear on the list, South Korea, appears at sixth. Also known as the home of eSports, the country has earned $112,210,527.76, the third-highest country total. There are 4,489 South Korean eSports athletes, meaning they have earned an average of $24,996.78 each.

Denmark is the first European country on the list, coming in at seventh place. The 1,789 Danish eSports athletes have earned a total of $44,193,116.62 from winnings. This works out to $24,702.69 per player.

North Macedonia takes eighth spot in the list, with average earnings of $24,608.69. Ethiopia comes in at ninth, with their one athlete, Snow, earning $23,669.95, and Bulgaria finishes off the top ten with $23,589.56.

The US does not appear in the top ten and is 39th out of 135. Even though the country has the highest total winnings at $188,772,162.88, it also has the most eSports athletes at 21,064, resulting in average earnings per player of $8,961.84.

A spokesperson for MapleCasino commented: “Esports has grown exponentially in recent years, with more than 439 million people watching esports events in 2020, and the tournament winnings have increased at the same rate. The data shows the success of Middle Eastern countries in esports, with Jordan and Lebanon topping the list. This is interesting as the industry is dominated by top tier players from Europe and Asia, so with Middle Eastern countries coming out on top, it shows the entire world can compete in eSports.”