KSA Report Highlights Growth of Illegal Gambling in the Netherlands Amidst Slow Regulated Market Expansion
Overview of the Gambling Market in the Netherlands
The Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the official gambling regulator in the Netherlands, released its Fall 2025 monitoring report. The findings reveal a significant concern: while the regulated gambling market is showing slow growth, the illegal gaming sector continues to expand rapidly.
Impact of New Gambling Regulations
The report indicates that although more people are engaging in gambling activities, the revenue share from the legal market has slowed down considerably. This contrasts with the continuing rise of revenue generated by the unregulated gambling sector.
Specifically, gross gaming revenue (GGR) from the first half of 2025 was recorded at approximately EUR 600 million, marking a noticeable drop compared to EUR 697 million reported in the second half of 2024. This decline is partly attributed to recently introduced player protection measures in the Netherlands, such as strict deposit limits aimed at preventing excessive spending, which have stirred some controversy.
Increase in the Number of Active Gamblers
The number of monthly active gambling accounts has steadily risen, from 1.18 million in the second half of 2024 to 1.29 million in the first half of 2025. Around 7.1% of these accounts were newly created during the same period, with young adults making up about 23% of all accounts.
However, the KSA highlights that the increase in accounts does not directly translate to a higher number of unique players, as many gamblers have opened multiple accounts due to the imposed deposit restrictions.
In total, there were about 839,000 unique active players using licensed providers in the first half of 2025. This figure indicates that roughly 5.7% of Dutch adults participated in legal gambling, showing a modest increase of 0.3% since the previous half-year period.
Moreover, average monthly losses per player have declined from approximately EUR 146 to EUR 119. This calculation accounts for the possibility that players might use several operators and do not participate every month.
Stability in Player Channelization but Decline in Revenue Channelization
The KSA notes that player channelization — the proportion of gamblers choosing licensed operators — remains stable, with 94% of Dutch gamblers playing through legal channels. Nonetheless, unlicensed gambling providers continue to attract a significant amount of betting money due to their less strict regulations.
This has led to a drop in the channelization rate concerning gambling funds, which fell from 51% to 49%. The KSA has expressed concern over this trend, marking it as a troubling development for the regulated gambling market in the Netherlands.
