Illegal Gambling Hits €91.6bn as ECA Demands Europol Action

⏱ 3 min read

The illegal online gambling market targeting consumers across the European Union hit €91.6 billion in 2025 — a 14% year-on-year rise — according to new figures unveiled at the European Parliament on 3 July 2026. The data, compiled by Gambling Compliance International (GCI) for the European Casino Association (ECA), reveals a black market that now dwarfs the licensed sector in revenue terms across the EU‑27.

Alongside the headline number, the same study puts the cost to European taxpayers at an estimated €22.9 billion in lost tax revenue for 2025 alone — money that would have flowed through licensed operators subject to national tax obligations. More than 6,200 unlicensed operators are actively targeting European consumers, and the research concludes that the overwhelming majority of online gambling content reaching EU users promotes operators that hold no local licence.

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The Scale of Europe's Illegal Gambling Problem

The GCI impact study — commissioned annually by the ECA — has tracked steady growth in the unlicensed EU market for several years, but the 2025 figures mark the largest absolute jump on record. The previous year's estimate stood at roughly €80 billion, which was the figure used in the event's original title when the roundtable was organised; the updated €91.6 billion number was released publicly for the first time during the parliamentary session, immediately superseding the older figure.

Key findings from the 2025 GCI report:

• Illegal operators now account for the majority of total online gambling revenue across EU member states.
• More than 6,200 unlicensed operators actively target European consumers.
• The bulk of gambling content Europeans encounter online promotes operators without valid national licences.
• Member states collectively missed out on an estimated €22.9 billion in tax revenue in 2025.
• Illegal operators disproportionately target young adults through personalised bonuses, free plays and aggressive digital marketing.

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What Happened at the European Parliament

The ECA hosted the roundtable on 3 July 2026, with the event chaired by MEP Lukas Mandl. Participants included officials from the European Commission, the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), Eurojust, the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group (JPSG) on Europol, national gambling regulators from across the bloc, and industry representatives. All discussions took place under the Chatham House Rule, allowing frank exchanges without individual attribution.

ECA Chair Erwin van Lambaart presented the GCI study findings and argued that the data demands a coordinated European response. The consensus that emerged pointed toward stronger links between national enforcement bodies, financial intelligence units and EU-level agencies, particularly as Europol's mandate comes under active review in Brussels.

MEP Mandl described the issue as "a serious cross-border threat that touches on consumer protection, organised crime and the integrity of our internal market," and confirmed the evidence would feed directly into future parliamentary work.

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ECA Pushes for Europol Mandate Expansion

The timing of the roundtable was deliberate. The European Commission has put forward proposals to reform Europol's operational mandate, expanding its authority to collect and share data across cross-border criminal investigations. The ECA used the parliamentary platform to press for illegal online gambling to be explicitly named as a priority within that expanded mandate.

Van Lambaart contended that national regulators, working in isolation, are structurally unable to keep pace with operators that target consumers across multiple jurisdictions simultaneously while remaining physically outside the EU. His argument: converting intelligence into action requires Europol, AMLA and the European Commission to coordinate with financial intelligence units and sector specialists in a way that current frameworks do not fully enable.

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Licensed vs. Unlicensed: What the Gap Looks Like

The ECA was careful to draw a sharp legal line: under EU national law, there is no "grey market." An operator either holds a valid national licence or it is operating illegally. The practical gap between the two categories is substantial.

Factor	Licensed Operators	Unlicensed (Illegal) Operators
Regulatory compliance	Full — subject to national and EU law	None — operate outside any licensing regime
AML obligations	Mandatory — cooperate with financial intelligence units	None — can actively facilitate money laundering
Responsible gambling	Strict programmes required by regulators	No requirements; target vulnerable and young players
Tax contribution	Full national GGR tax paid	Zero contribution to member states
Age verification	Mandatory KYC checks	Often absent; minors routinely targeted
2025 EU revenue share	Minority of total online GGR	Majority of total EU-27 online GGR (€91.6bn)

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Digital Services Act and the Platform Question

Stakeholders at the roundtable also raised the role of social media and online platforms in amplifying the illegal market's reach. Unlicensed operators consistently reach European consumers through affiliate marketing campaigns and promotional content that can remain live for extended periods, often across platforms including YouTube and Twitch.

The European Commission, however, indicated it views existing legislation as sufficient. Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, responding to a written question from German MEP Sabine Verheyen, pointed to the Digital Services Act (DSA) as the primary mechanism for tackling illegal gambling promotions online. The DSA requires platforms to provide reporting tools for illegal content and obliges the largest services to actively assess and reduce the spread of unlawful material — including advertising from unlicensed gambling operators.

The exchange came after Verheyen cited earlier ECA-commissioned research estimating that 71% of online gambling activity targeting European users originates from unlicensed websites — a figure that, combined with the new €91.6 billion market estimate, underscores how central the platform question has become to enforcement debates in Brussels.

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Sources

Primary and secondary sources used in reporting this article, listed in order of authority.

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. If we fail to act now, the illegal online market will continue to grow at the expense of players, public finances and legitimate businesses.

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