Illegal Gambling in EU Hits €91.6B, Sparking Europol Push

⏱ 3 min read

The illegal online gambling market targeting EU consumers surged to an estimated €91.6 billion in 2025, up roughly 14% year-on-year, according to new data released at a European Parliament roundtable on 3 July 2026. The figures, compiled by Gambling Compliance International (GCI) for the European Casino Association (ECA), replaced the €80.6 billion estimate from 2024 — a number that was already obsolete by the time the event started.

The financial toll for governments is equally stark. EU member states lost an estimated €22.9 billion in tax revenue during 2025 due to unlicensed operators, while more than 6,200 illegal gambling websites continued to target European consumers. The findings add significant pressure to a parallel push by the European Commission to expand Europol's mandate — a reform package tabled on 24 June 2026 that would give the agency greater cross-border operational powers, including over illegal gambling.

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What the 2025 GCI Report Found

The roundtable was hosted by MEP Lukas Mandl and convened officials from the European Commission, Europol, the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), Eurojust, and national gambling regulators from the Netherlands, Denmark, and other member states. Discussions operated under Chatham House Rule.

ECA Chair Erwin van Lambaart presented the headline numbers. The GCI study — the successor to Yield Sec's 2024 analysis after GCI acquired the firm in 2025 — concluded that unlicensed operators now generate the majority of online gambling revenue across the EU-27. The report also found that the vast majority of gambling content European consumers encounter online promotes unlicensed platforms, often through affiliate marketing on YouTube and Twitch.

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The Europol Mandate Overhaul

The roundtable's timing was deliberate. Just nine days earlier, the European Commission published a legislative proposal to reform Europol's mandate — the agency's most comprehensive update in its 25-year history. The package proposes doubling Europol's budget to €3 billion under the next multi-annual financial framework (2028–2034), introducing a secure cloud infrastructure, and creating a European Police Shared Data Space for real-time investigative collaboration.

The ECA has urged lawmakers to include illegal online gambling as a clear priority within Europol's expanded remit. Van Lambaart called for stronger cooperation between Europol, the Commission, and AMLA, arguing that national regulators alone cannot keep pace with operators targeting consumers across multiple jurisdictions simultaneously.

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Illegal Gambling Market: Year-on-Year Growth

Metric	2024 (Yield Sec/ECA)	2025 (GCI/ECA)	Change
Illegal market GGR	€80.6 billion	€91.6 billion	+14%
Est. tax revenue lost	€20 billion	€22.9 billion	+15%
Active illegal operators	6,200+	6,200+	Stable
Illegal market share (online)	71%	Majority (exact % TBC)	—
Europeans exposed to illegal sites	81 million	Not updated	—

The persistent count of roughly 6,200 unlicensed operators suggests the illegal ecosystem is regenerating as fast as enforcers can shut sites down. The 14% revenue jump on a stable operator base points to rising average revenue per illegal platform rather than a simple expansion in site numbers.

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Digital Services Act and Platform Enforcement

A parallel debate is building over how online platforms promote illegal gambling content. In June 2026, Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen responded to questions from German MEP Sabine Verheyen by pointing to the Digital Services Act (DSA) as the EU's primary enforcement tool. The DSA already requires large platforms to allow users to report illegal content and obliges very large platforms and search engines to assess and mitigate the spread of unlawful material — including unlicensed gambling advertising.

The ECA and several MEPs argue that existing DSA mechanisms have not been enough. Earlier research found that 92% of gambling-related content EU consumers encountered in 2024 was linked to unlicensed operators, with affiliate campaigns on Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok acting as major traffic channels.

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What This Means for Operators and Bettors

For licensed operators, the implications cut two ways. A strengthened Europol mandate and tighter platform enforcement could help level the playing field by choking off unlicensed competition. However, the same reform push is also accelerating stricter compliance requirements — the EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (2024/1624), which becomes applicable in mid-2026, imposes new obligations on licensed operators including enhanced KYC and transaction monitoring.

For bettors, the takeaway is that the regulatory environment is tilting further toward licensed platforms. The roundtable participants signalled that future enforcement actions are likely to target payment processors and advertising intermediaries that service illegal operators — potentially reducing access to unlicensed sites across the EU.

Sources

This article draws on primary sources and verified industry reporting from the following outlets:

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