In 2025, the Dutch licensed gambling market achieved a capture of approximately 59% of total gross gaming yield (BSR), up from 54% the previous year, according to the Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa)'s recent annual report and semi-annual report for early 2026, released on Thursday.
The Netherlands’ regulated online gambling sector showed a revival in the first half of 2026, with gross gaming yield rising around 11% compared to the previous six months. The Ksa's eleventh monitoring report, which covers January to June, estimated that licensed operators generated roughly €670 million ($750 million) in BSR, averaging about €110 million monthly.
Casino games, which include activities played against the house, contributed around 73% of the total BSR, equivalent to €492 million. Meanwhile, sports betting accounted for about 24%, or €163 million, an increase from roughly 20% in the second half of 2025. The Ksa suggested that the uptick in sports betting might be associated with the men's FIFA World Cup, with significant fluctuations in wagering noted, particularly in June as new accounts surged.
During the first half of 2026, 563,000 new accounts were created, up from 529,000 in the previous six-month period.
The Ksa faced challenges in estimating the unlicensed gambling market. To assess revenue from illegal sites, it combined GfK panel data with a Google Ads search-volume analysis. For the first half of 2026, an estimated 20,000 individuals gambled only with unlicensed operators each month, while an additional 10,000 used both licensed and unlicensed sites. Depending on the methodology, the percentage of players engaging with legal providers ranged between 94% and 97%. This suggests that illegal site users may incur significantly higher losses on average compared to those using licensed providers. The Ksa highlighted that these estimates are uncertain and continues to improve its measuring techniques.
Although licensed operators reported a rise to about 1.48 million active accounts monthly, up from 1.38 million, independent data from GfK indicated no increase in the actual number of individuals gambling with licensed providers. The Ksa estimated that 820,000 people gambled with licensed operators during the first half of 2026, averaging about 490,000 per month. This disparity between growing account numbers and stable player figures implies that users may be creating multiple accounts, potentially as a reaction to regulatory changes, including net deposit limits established in October 2024.
In terms of player losses, average monthly losses per account remained relatively stable, with licensed operators reporting an average of €75. For accounts used by those aged 18-23, the average loss was reported at €34. Adjusting for players using multiple accounts, another Ksa estimate indicated average losses at €137 per person per month, an increase from €121 in the previous half-year. Young adults were notably represented, comprising about 22% of legal gambling accounts, despite making up only around 9.2% of the adult population.
Recent findings showed that from 15,761 new accounts opened between May 1-7, 2026, young adults aged 18-24 accounted for 33% of registrations, with 41% of accounts opened by newly turned 18-year-olds. A trend was also observed where there was a significant spike in registrations immediately after individuals reached 18, with 11% of accounts created on their birthday in 2024-25 and 38% within the following month.
The demand for gambling support services has also risen, with 3,108 individuals receiving specialized treatment for gambling as their primary issue in 2025, marking a 14% increase from 2024. The national self-exclusion register, Cruks, grew by an average of 2,076 registrations per month, reaching around 120,200 registrations by the end of July 2026. The report noted an increase in involuntary registrations after operator notifications.
In terms of advertising, online promotions by licensed operators fell by approximately 33%, decreasing from an average of 75,000 placements monthly in the second half of 2025 to about 50,000 in the first half of 2026. The Netherlands has been engaged in an ongoing effort against gambling advertisements this year. In June, the government proposed a near-total ban on online gambling ads, likening the gambling industry to sex work.
Additionally, the VNLOK brought a lawsuit against Meta, alleging that the tech company allowed extensive illegal gambling advertisements to be displayed to Dutch consumers, claiming that over 90% of gambling ads on Facebook originate from unauthorized operators in the Netherlands.
