Dutch licensed gambling market shrinks to €4.1bn as online GGR falls

Online casino revenue fell 18.2% and online betting 30.2%, which the KSA links at least partly to deposit limits and a higher gambling tax.

The licensed Dutch gambling market generated €4.1 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2025, down from an inflation-adjusted €4.5 billion in 2024, according to the Dutch regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA). Most of the decline came from online casino and betting.

Online GGR falls 21% in 2025

The KSA published the figures on 29 October 2026 in its annual market scan for 2025. All comparisons with 2024 in the market scan are adjusted for inflation.

Online GGR came to €1.20 billion, down 21.0% from €1.52 billion. Online casino fell 18.2% to €947 million. Online sports and horse betting fell 30.2% to €254 million.

What the KSA links the online decline to

The regulator says the fall in online revenue is probably at least partly due to three factors.

• Stricter player protection rules from 1 October 2024. These include a net deposit limit of €700 a month for players aged 24 and over and €300 for young adults. Players can only go above the limit if they show they can afford it.
• The gambling tax rise from 30.5% to 34.2% in 2025. The rate went up again to 37.8% on 1 January 2026.
• A tougher comparison with 2024, when the men’s European Championship boosted both betting and casino revenue.

The KSA adds that a ban on sports sponsorship by online operators, in force since 1 July 2025, may also have had an effect.

Holland Casino and land-based betting grow

Land-based gambling held up better. State-owned Holland Casino, which holds the Dutch land-based casino monopoly, grew GGR by 2.8% to €683 million. Slot machines drove most of the increase rather than table games. Visits rose from 5.9 million to 6.1 million, even though the Zandvoort casino closed on 1 February 2025.

Machines in arcades and hospitality venues lost 4.7% combined. The number of arcades fell from 197 to 194, while visits rose slightly to 11.7 million, so the average spend per visit went down.

Land-based betting rose 8.5% to €86 million, almost entirely from sports betting. The KSA says the gap with online betting may be down to differences in regulation, such as less strict duty of care rules and no checks against Cruks, the national self-exclusion register, for land-based betting. Lottery GGR fell 1.8%.

Tax receipts dip to €1.05 billion

Operators paid €1.05 billion in gambling tax in 2025, against an inflation-adjusted €1.06 billion in 2024. Receipts fell less than revenue because the tax rate went up.

The average Dutch adult lost €282 on licensed gambling in 2025, down from €307 a year earlier. That compares with an EU average of €369, adjusted for income and purchasing power.

Online GGR rises 11% in the first half of 2026

The KSA’s monitoring report on the online market, which covers January to June 2026, shows revenue picking up again. Licensed online GGR reached €670 million, up about 11% on the €602 million recorded in the second half of 2025. That is roughly €110 million a month. The KSA says the men’s World Cup in June and July may have contributed.

Sports betting’s share of online GGR rose to 24%, or about €163 million, from 20%. Casino games against the house fell to 73%, or about €492 million, from 78%.

Active accounts averaged 1.48 million a month, up from 1.38 million. The KSA estimates the number of people gambling online each month has not grown significantly and puts it at around 490,000. It says the extra accounts may partly reflect the World Cup, but could also mean some players are opening several accounts to get around per-account deposit limits.

The average player lost an estimated €137 a month, up 13% from €121 in the second half of 2025. In the first half of 2024, before the new rules, the figure was €160. About 94% of online players use only licensed sites, according to the regulator.

The report also includes treatment data for 2025, when 3,108 people were treated at specialist addiction centres with gambling as their main addiction. That is just over 14% more than the 2,708 treated in 2024.

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