Illegal Online Gambling Spend Overtakes Legal Sites in the Netherlands

For the first time since its legalisation in 2021, Dutch players spent more on illegal gambling sites than on licensed ones in the first half of 2025, the Gambling Authority (KSA) reports. The regulator estimates the illegal market at about €617 million compared to €600 million legally, partly driven by players avoiding new safer-gambling rules.

What changed and why it matters

This year, the Netherlands tightened consumer protections: high-risk games moved to 21+, new deposit limits arrived, and ad rules were tightened. That likely helped cut average legal losses per active player (from ~€146 to ~€119), but some players shifted to offshore sites where limits don’t apply, the KSA notes. Illegal sites offer no Dutch oversight, no identity or affordability checks, and weak dispute protection, so harm risks are higher.

Who is gambling

KSA’s latest monitor counts ~1.29 million active accounts in H1 2025 (one person can have several accounts) and ~839,000 people gambling with legal providers: about 5.7% of adults. Young adults (18–24) remain over-represented and bet relatively more on sports; slots are most popular overall.

How the regulator is responding

The KSA says the priority is to pull players back into the legal channel while enforcing against illegal supply. Alongside the new player-protection rules, the watchdog has stepped up action against illegal advertising and influencer promotion and warned intermediaries (affiliates, media, payment firms) that they risk fines and orders if they facilitate unlicensed operators.

The government’s harm-reduction push seems to be lowering spending on legal sites, but also risks channelling some play offshore. The KSA’s task now is to keep protections while making the legal route attractive enough, through enforcement on illegal supply and continued improvements to consumer tools, so players stay inside the regulated market