Rising Revenue But Increased Regulation for Europe’s Online Gambling Companies

Recently released figures for the UK gambling industry revealed gross gambling yield (GGY) of £1.45 billion for the first three months of 2025, reports GamblerMedia, an online gambling affiliate. Gambling revenue, particularly for online companies, continues to flourish despite increasingly stricter regulation and the presence of unlicensed sitesThe latest UK figures showed an increase of 7% compared to the same period in 2024. There was also a 5% increase in the number of bets and spins with a total of 25.2 billion being made. The number of average monthly active accounts also saw a year-on-year increase, climbing to 13.5 million.

March 2025 saw gross gaming revenue (GGR) in Europe reported to be  €123.4bn for FY24. This was an increase of 5% from the previous year. Online gambling had a market share of 39%. Last year saw GGR for the Dutch online market total €1.47 billion. That was a 6% rise from 2023 but there was a fall in revenue in the second half of the year. 

Regulation of the gambling market is commonplace throughout Europe. In the UK, there has recently been the introduction of new maximum stake limits for online slot games. There have long been concerns about how addictive the games are and the lack of a maximum stake limit.

Players aged 18-24 are now unable to stake more than £2 on each spin. Older players now have a maximum stake limit of £5 a spin. Campaigners still believe that the speed of online slots need to be reduced.

The UK government has also been introducing stricter affordability checks on players. Also on its way is a compulsory levy on gambling companies that is expected to raise an annual total of £100 million. The monies raised will go towards researching gambling harm and contributing towards the cost of treating those who have had problems caused by their betting.

The Netherlands has also seen stricter regulation put in place. New responsible gambling rules were introduced last October, including deposit limits. A report released by the Dutch gambling authority this spring revealed there had been a significant reduction in extreme player losses. 

The percentage of accounts that lost over €1000 a month has fallen from 4% to 1.2%. The GGR from players who were losing at least €1000 a month now represents 23% of the overall total, down from 73%.

In Finland, their government is reforming their current Gambling Act. The proposals will see stricter regulation of the Finnish gambling industry. This includes the minimum age for players to be able to gamble to be increased to 20, self-exclusion tools, mandatory ID verification and restrictions on advertising.

Unlike in the UK, there is a digital monopoly of the Finnish gambling market. State operator Veikkaus currently holds that but that could change in 2027. The plan is to open up the market to private companies  who would be licensed to operate in the country.

Throughout Europe there are worries about unlicensed gambling companies. To legally operate in the United Kingdom, a license must have been granted by the UK Gambling Commission. The so-called black market that sees unlicensed companies operate is causing a problem in the UK. 

This causes several problems as the lack of regulation reduces the level of customer protection. The operators also reduce the revenue of licensed sites and do not pay tax to the Treasury. 

In Sweden, their gambling authority has recently banned three unlicensed companies. They were found to be illegally targeting Swedish players. There are many ways in which unlicensed companies do this including online advertising on Twitch and Instagram.

It is the online sector that continues to flourish with a rising share and increased revenue. In Denmark, figures released for online casino revenue in March 2025 were 6.4% higher than seen in the same period last year. The continued success of online gambling can be compared to falls in revenue totals for land-based companies as is also happening in the UK.

France has also been seeing gross gaming revenue totals increasing. Last year, the total revenue figure was €14bn, a year-on-year rise of 4.7%.  Again it was the online sector that was seeing huge increases in terms of revenue and the number of active player accounts. 

This year will see new gambling tax laws come into force in France. In the UK, there are also plans to change the way in which the gambling industry is taxed. A new system has been proposed but there are concerns that this could see the amounts of tax being paid increasing.

The future of the online casino industry does follow similar patterns throughout Europe. Revenue is increasing but there are concerns over the levels of gambling harm and stricter regulation is being introduced with fears of rising taxation too.