Illegal gambling in the EU cost €22.9 billion in taxes in 2025
The European Casino Association (ECA) presented the data from its annual study on the impact of illegal online gambling, prepared by Gambling Compliance International (GCI), to the European Parliament during a round table organized with community legislators, the European Commission, the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), Eurojust, and national regulators. The 2025 figures, published for the first time at this forum, showed that the illegal online gambling market targeting European Union consumers reached EUR 91.6 billion, a 14% increase compared to the previous year.
The growth of the unauthorized market deprived member states of approximately EUR 22.9 billion in tax revenue during 2025. The report also revealed that illegal operators currently represent the largest portion of the online gambling market in the EU-27, that more than 6,200 unlicensed platforms actively target European consumers, and that most of the online gambling content to which EU citizens are exposed promotes unauthorized operators.
ECA President, Erwin van Lambaart, who co-chaired the debate alongside MEP Lukas Mandl, warned about the magnitude of the problem: "Illegal operators, often based outside the EU, can reach European consumers with a single click, without guarantees, without supervision, and without contributing to our communities." Van Lambaart contrasted this reality with the demands faced by licensed operators, who must comply with strict regulations and invest in responsible gambling and anti-money laundering controls.
The executive called for political will and public-private cooperation to reverse the trend, emphasizing that institutions such as the European Commission, Europol, and AMLA can act as facilitators between national law enforcement efforts, financial intelligence units, and private sector expertise. The round table participants exchanged views under the Chatham House Rule and agreed that more rigorous law enforcement and greater coordination among member countries are needed.
The European debate has direct implications for Latin America, where several regulated markets face increasing competition from unauthorized platforms that capture demand without contributing to public funds. The model for quantifying the fiscal impact of illegal gambling that the ECA applies through the GCI study is a tool that regulators in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina could replicate to dimension the problem locally and support more aggressive blocking and enforcement policies.
Tags: European Union, illegal gambling, ECA, GCI, European Parliament, tax impact, enforcement