The Dutch regulator, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has reported that the Netherlands’ illegal sector is continuing to grow.
In its latest monitoring update, KSA Chairman Michel Groothuizen said key indicators, including the number of licensees, player numbers and overall revenue in the regulated market, have remained largely unchanged compared to six months earlier.
The trend reflects the impact of regulatory measures introduced in 2024 and 2025, including deposit limits, advertising regulations and higher gambling taxes.
Despite the market plateau, the KSA reported that average player losses have continued to decline, with monthly losses falling to around €120 (£104) in the second half of 2025 – more than 25% lower than the previous year.
However, the KSA once again raised concerns about the size of the illegal market. The share of gross gaming revenue (GGR) going to licensed operators fell from 56% at the start of 2025 to 53% in the second half of the year, suggesting that nearly half of all gambling spend is now flowing to unlicensed providers.
“Studies show that the global share of the illegal market is growing, and we see this in other European countries as well,” said Groothuizen.
“Various technological developments (including AI) and phenomena such as cryptocurrency gambling contribute to this. In the Netherlands, this trend may also be due to the various measures we have taken ourselves to better protect players at legal providers, such as the aforementioned established deposit limits.
“While six months ago we did not yet see that setting a deposit limit per provider led to the creation of multiple accounts, we now see that the number of accounts per player is increasing slightly.
“It is therefore quite possible that the financial capacity check that takes place starting from a certain amount encourages people to create another legal account elsewhere to circumvent that check, or to switch entirely to illegal offerings.”
As Groothuizen pointed out, black market activity has not just been on the rise in the Netherlands. It seems as though regulators around the world are having to work overtime in dealing with the now-booming unlicensed operators in their relative jurisdictions.
For example, a recent YieldSec study found that 62% of gambling activity in South Africa came via unlicensed sites that are not regulated in the country. South African Bookmakers’ Association (SABA) Chief Executive Officer, Sean Coleman, told SBC News that regulatory bodies in South Africa are “lacking resources and skill sets to deal with the illegal market”.
This could well be an attitude shared by more experts for more countries, with a recent study commissioned by Flutter Entertainment finding how black market operators in the UK are able to effectively operate illegally without any major repercussions.
On this, Alex Wood, who undertook the research, said that it would be “impossible” to tackle these operators from a legal standpoint due to cross-border difficulties.
The KSA’s future plans
Looking ahead in the Netherlands, policymakers are considering the introduction of an overarching deposit limit to prevent players from moving between licensed operators. While such a measure could reduce circumvention within the legal market, Groothuizen acknowledged it may also push some users toward illegal alternatives.
The KSA also reiterated its commitment to strict duty-of-care requirements, highlighting ongoing concerns around high-risk gambling. Around 6% of the adult population in the Netherlands participates in online gambling, while it has also been noted that the country sees “no age group that has as many gambling accounts, relatively speaking, as 18-year-olds”.
Groothuizen warned that easing player protection measures would be inappropriate, adding that safeguarding vulnerable users remains a top priority.
Just last week, the KSA divested more funds into reducing problem gambling through its Addiction Prevention Fund. Whilst the regulator has been one of the more prominent bodies in global media reports around tackling both gambling harms and illicit activity in the sector, it is clear that it is still dealing with widespread problems – problems which are not limited to the Netherlands.
Groothuizen concluded his statement by saying: “Strict adherence to the duty of care therefore remains one of our top priorities for the legal market.
“It goes without saying that the illegal sector does not care in any way about the harm that gambling can cause.”