Illegal Gambling EU Black Market Hits €91.6bn in 2025

⏱ 3 min read

The illegal online gambling market targeting consumers across the European Union hit €91.6 billion in 2025, according to figures unveiled for the first time at a European Parliament roundtable on 3 July 2026. The number surpassed the €80 billion estimate that had been used when the event was organised — the new data, compiled by Gambling Compliance International (GCI) for the European Casino Association (ECA), arrived on the day and immediately made the event title obsolete.

The 14% year-on-year rise cost EU member states an estimated €22.9 billion in lost tax revenue during 2025 alone. More than 6,200 unlicensed operators are now actively targeting European players, and unlicensed businesses now generate the majority of all online gambling revenue across the EU-27 — a tipping point that has pushed the ECA to press Brussels for expanded Europol enforcement powers.

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The Scale of the Illegal Market

The GCI study — commissioned annually by the ECA — now represents the most detailed attempt to quantify the EU's black-market gambling problem. The 2025 headline figure of €91.6 billion is not a projection; it reflects total estimated gross gaming revenue generated by unlicensed operators serving EU consumers in the prior calendar year.

The tax-loss estimate of €22.9 billion is calculated against the tax contributions those operators would have made had they been operating legally in each member state. ECA Chair Erwin van Lambaart, who presented the figures, described the growth as "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."

The ECA also noted that the overwhelming majority of online gambling content Europeans encounter promotes unlicensed operators, many of which are registered outside the EU and therefore fall outside the direct reach of national licensing regimes.

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What Happened in the European Parliament

The roundtable was hosted by MEP Lukas Mandl and held under the Chatham House Rule, meaning participants could exchange views freely without individual attribution. Those in attendance included officials from the European Commission, the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), Eurojust, the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group (JPSG) on Europol, Dutch Gambling Authority (Kansspelautoriteit), the Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden), and industry representatives.

Mandl set the political tone clearly: "Illegal online gambling is not a niche issue, it is a serious cross-border threat that touches on consumer protection, organised crime and the integrity of our internal market." He confirmed that the evidence presented by the ECA would be carried into parliamentary work and efforts to build cross-party support against illegal gambling's effects on individuals and families.

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Why Europol Is Central to the ECA's Demands

The timing of the roundtable was deliberate. On 24 June 2026 — just nine days before the ECA event — the European Commission published a legislative proposal to expand Europol's mandate, giving the agency a more active operational role in cross-border crime investigations. The ECA wants illegal online gambling explicitly named as a priority within that expanded scope.

The core argument from van Lambaart was that national regulators cannot tackle operators that span multiple jurisdictions simultaneously. Better data sharing between Europol, AMLA, national gambling regulators and financial intelligence units, he argued, would allow authorities to convert market intelligence into coordinated enforcement action rather than fragmented, country-by-country efforts.

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Legal vs Illegal Operators: Key Differences

The ECA was careful to define "illegal" in its EU context: in all 27 member states, a gambling operator is either licensed in the country where it serves customers or it is illegal — there is no formal grey market. The GCI report drew out the practical differences between the two categories, which matter directly for players on sites like Growl Games.

Category	Licensed (Legal) Operators	Unlicensed (Illegal) Operators
AML Compliance	Mandatory; cooperate with national and EU authorities	None; can facilitate money laundering and crime financing
Age & ID Checks	Strict KYC requirements enforced by law	Frequently bypassed; actively target young and vulnerable players
Responsible Gambling	Regulated programmes; self-exclusion, deposit limits	No obligation; aggressive bonuses and free plays used to drive play
Tax Contribution	Pay national GGR tax in each market served	Pay no tax to governments of countries they target
Consumer Recourse	Regulator dispute resolution available	No recourse; operators can disappear without warning
Advertising	Subject to national advertising codes and restrictions	Use licensed operators' logos and branding to commit fraud

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Social Media and the Digital Services Act

The parliamentary debate also surfaced pressure on digital platforms. Illegal operators continue to reach European consumers through affiliate networks, influencer content and social media promotion that can remain live online for extended periods. YouTube and Twitch have both been highlighted in earlier industry research as channels carrying significant volumes of unlicensed gambling promotion.

The European Commission's position, restated in response to questions from German MEP Sabine Verheyen, is that the Digital Services Act (DSA) already provides the primary legal framework. Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen argued the DSA requires platforms to offer reporting mechanisms for illegal content and obliges the largest platforms and search engines to assess and limit the spread of unlawful material — including advertising for unlicensed gambling services. The Commission did not announce new enforcement measures beyond the DSA's existing provisions.

That stance is unlikely to satisfy the ECA. Its own earlier research estimated that 71% of online gambling activity targeting European users takes place through unlicensed websites — a figure that will feed into what is shaping up to be a protracted legislative battle over how and whether Europol's new mandate will put illegal gambling operators directly in its crosshairs.

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Sources

Primary source first; all secondary sources cross-checked against the ECA press release dated 3 July 2026.

Illegal online gambling is not a niche issue, it is a serious cross-border threat that touches on consumer protection, organised crime and the integrity of our internal market. Europol is a crucial partner for Member States, but we must ensure that its mandate and resources allow it to fully support the fight against these illegitimate activities.

— Lukas Mandl, Member of the European Parliament · Roundtable on Illegal Online Gambling, European Parliament, 3 July 2026