Europe’s illegal online gambling market tripled to €12bn, Euromat study finds

The unlicensed sector now equals a quarter of Europe’s online gambling, with government policy, cryptocurrency and affiliate marketing all named as drivers. 

Europe’s illegal online gambling market was worth €12 billion in net revenue in 2025, according to research commissioned by the European Gaming and Amusement Federation. The figure is three times the 2019 total and equal to 25% of all online gambling activity across the region.

What the study covered

The research was carried out by Regulus Partners and Helios, a digital research consultancy specialising in gambling web traffic. EUROMAT announced the findings on 8 September 2026.

The study assessed 28 European online gambling markets. These comprise the EU27 excluding Malta and Luxembourg, with the UK, Serbia, and Montenegro added.

EUROMAT describes the work as the result of more than 1,000 person-hours of analysis. The methodology sets digital marketing and web traffic data against macroeconomic figures and country-specific regulatory interventions.

Regulation identified as the main driver

Filip Jelavić, owner and project lead at Helios, attributed the growth of the unlicensed sector to domestic policy rather than to the conduct of illegal operators alone.

‘It’s clear that online gambling black markets don’t happen by accident but instead are the result of government policies that create consumer friction. In such an environment the key drivers are a combination of limited choice based on regulation and state monopolies, low visibility, distortions of price or value, as well as interventionist measures such as affordability checks – which block or inconvenience established consumer behaviour.’

Jelavić said the most powerful illegal operators are now large enough to have built recognisable brands with substantial market share.

Cryptocurrency and affiliates

The research points to cryptocurrency as central to that growth. Jelavić said traffic analysis showed crypto had been key to building many of these businesses, both as a point of product differentiation and as a regulatory workaround.

He noted that few European jurisdictions have established a working route for consumers to gamble legally with cryptocurrency. In his assessment, that gap creates ‘a “push” from crypto consumers as well as a “pull” from crypto ecosystems avoiding scrutiny’.

For the long tail of smaller sites, he said, affiliate businesses offer a cost-effective way to recruit players that is difficult to enforce against even where laws are in place.

How EUROMAT intends to use the findings

EUROMAT president Jason Frost said the study ‘will form the backbone of our engagement programme with policy makers and law enforcement agencies across member states’.

Frost said the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) insight shows organised crime groups treat illegal gambling as a source of ready liquidity for drug trafficking, human trafficking, and firearms smuggling. 

He argued that unlicensed operators avoid duties and taxes, carry lower overheads, and can therefore advertise better returns than licensed businesses.

He also said the absence of self-exclusion schemes such as Gamban on illegal sites leaves vulnerable players exposed.

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