Recent years have witnessed tremendous growth of the global esports industry, with the average revenue increase of more than 30% year-on-year. The strong rising trend of the entire market was followed by a surge in the number of viewers and the size of tournament prize pools.

According to data gathered by GoldenCasinoNews, the top three highest-earning esports countries globally reached $338.9 million in total prize money so far. With $139.6 million or more than 40% of that amount, the United States ranked as leading esports country in the world.

The US and China lead in Esports Earnings

In 2019 only, professional esports players from the United States earned $40.6 million in prize money, revealed Statista and EsportsEarnings.com data. Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, Saahil “UNiVeRsE” and Peter “ppd” Dager were the most successful among them, winning $3.06 million, $3.05 million and $3.02 million in prize money, respectively.

Statistics also show esports tournaments drew more than 16,000 US players so far, almost four times more than any other country in the world.

With $109.1 million in total prize money, China ranked as the second highest-earning esports country globally. Last year, 1089 professional Chinese esports players won a total of $19.6 million in prize money. So far, more than 4,300 of them competed in different tournaments. Dota 2 players Lu “Somnus M” Yao and Xu “fy” Linsen are the leading Chinese esports players, with $2.94 million and $2.85 million in total prize money.

South Korea took third place on the list of the highest-earning esports countries in the world, with $90.1 million in total prize money. Statistics show that more than 3,800 South Korean esports players competed in professional tournaments, so far. Last year 1,083 players were actively competing and won $16.91 million in prize money. The 25-year old League of Legends player Lee “Faker” Sang Hyeok tops the list of Chinese esports players with $1.25 million in total prize money.

Sweden is the Highest-earning Esports Country in Europe

With $37.1 million in total prize money, Sweden ranked as the highest-earning esports country in Europe, and the fourth globally. The 2019 data show Swedish esports players won $6.25 million last year. Dota 2 players Gustav “s4” Magnusson and Ludwig “Zai” Wåhlberg were the most successful among them, wining around $2.5 million each.

Statistics show Denmark players won a total of $35.2 million in competing in esports tournaments. The most successful one among them and the leading esports player globally is a 26-year old Dota 2 player Johan “N0tail” Sundstein who won $6.9 million so far.

France and Canada follow with $27.8 million and $27.1 million in total prize money, respectively. Statistics show that Russian esports players won $25.5 million worth prizes, followed by German players who ranked in ninth place with $25.1 million in earnings.

With $24.7 million in total prize money, Finland ranked as the tenth esports country in the world. Last year, Finish players won $9.8 million in total, which placed them in fourth place of the leading esports countries. Moreover, statistics show that two out of five leading esports players in the world are from Finland. A 27-year old Dota 2 player Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka ranked second with almost $6.5 million in earnings. His fellow countryman Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen, also Dota 2 player, ranked fifth with a total of $5.4 million in prize money.