Illegal Gambling Costs EU €22.9bn in Lost Tax Revenue

⏱ 3 min read

The EU's illegal online gambling market swelled to €91.6 billion in gross revenue in 2025 — a 14% year-on-year rise — according to a study commissioned by the European Casino Association (ECA) and presented at the European Parliament on 3 July 2026. The figure, compiled by Gambling Compliance International (GCI), means unlicensed operators now generate the majority of all online gambling revenue across the EU-27.

The tax cost is stark: EU member states collectively forfeited an estimated €22.9 billion in tax revenue in 2025 because of that black-market activity. Researchers identified more than 6,200 unlicensed operators actively targeting European consumers, and concluded that the majority of online gambling content seen by EU players promotes platforms operating without a national licence.

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Scale of the Black Market

The GCI impact study — the same methodology the ECA has commissioned annually for several years — puts the 2025 illegal market at €91.6 billion, up from roughly €80 billion the prior year. That single-year growth of approximately €11.6 billion exceeds the entire regulated online gambling revenue of several mid-sized EU member states.

Metric	2024 (est.)	2025	Change
Illegal market GGR (EU-27)	~€80bn	€91.6bn	+14%
Estimated EU tax revenue lost	~€20bn	€22.9bn	+~15%
Active unlicensed operators identified	Not disclosed	6,200+	—

For context, the ECA's previous annual study had placed the tax loss figure at approximately €20 billion, making the jump to €22.9 billion the largest single-year increase the association has reported.

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The European Parliament Roundtable

The figures were unveiled at a high-level roundtable hosted by MEP Lukas Mandl on 3 July 2026 and convened under the Chatham House Rule. Attendees included officials from the European Commission, the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), Eurojust, the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group on Europol, and national gambling regulators across member states.

ECA Chair Erwin van Lambaart presented the data and called for coordinated institutional action: "The 2025 data from the GCI report leaves no room for doubt: illegal online gambling is a fast-growing, cross-border problem that puts players, especially young adults, at high risk, deprives societies of much-needed tax revenues, and undermines trust in the regulated market."

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The Enforcement Gap

The ECA's core argument is structural: illegal gambling is inherently cross-border, while enforcement remains fragmented at national level. Individual regulators can block domains and payment channels within their jurisdiction, but unlicensed operators simply re-register under new domains or route payments through jurisdictions with weaker controls.

The association is pushing for an expanded operational mandate for Europol to coordinate takedowns across member states — a proposal that gained traction after the European Commission tabled a legislative proposal on 24 June 2026 to broaden Europol's remit in cross-border crime cases. Van Lambaart argued that connecting "national enforcement efforts, financial intelligence units and sector expertise" through EU-level agencies is the only viable route to scale enforcement proportionately against a €91.6 billion black market.

• Domain blocking orders lack cross-border teeth — operators re-launch under new URLs within days
• Payment channel restrictions are patchy: some member states mandate ISP-level blocks; others rely on voluntary bank cooperation
• No EU-wide definition of "illegal gambling operator" existed until Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 introduced one — and that regulation does not apply until July 2027
• AMLA's supervisory standards for gambling, published 8 July 2026, add AML teeth but do not address unlicensed operators directly

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What It Means for Licensed Operators

For regulated operators, the €91.6 billion black market represents lost addressable revenue — players spending money with unlicensed platforms rather than licensed ones. The ECA's data also undercuts the argument that high gambling taxes maximise state revenue: if €22.9 billion in annual tax receipts is being foregone because players shift to the black market, aggressive tax increases on licensed operators risk accelerating that migration.

The roundtable's attendance by AMLA and Eurojust officials alongside MEPs signals that the political appetite for coordinated EU-level action is higher than at any previous point. Operators with EU licences should expect:

• Stricter payment monitoring requirements as regulators target the financial flows sustaining unlicensed platforms
• Possible pan-EU domain and payment blocking frameworks if Europol's mandate is expanded as proposed
• Greater scrutiny of affiliate and marketing channels, given the finding that most EU consumers are exposed primarily to unlicensed gambling advertising
• Continued pressure on responsible gambling standards as regulators contrast licensed operators' protections with the total absence of safeguards on black-market sites

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Sources

Primary and secondary sources used in this article, in order of weight.

Illegal online gambling is a fast-growing, cross-border problem that puts players, especially young adults, at high risk, deprives societies of much-needed tax revenues, and undermines trust in the regulated market.

— Erwin van Lambaart, Chair, European Casino Association · European Parliament Roundtable, 3 July 2026