KSA: Regulated Dutch Gambling Share Rises to 59% but Youth Risk Persists

Licensed operators captured a greater share of gambling revenue in the Netherlands during the first half of 2026, but concerns about young adults, treatment demand and illegal advertising persist, the Kansspelautoriteit reported on 29 October 2026. The KSA estimated licensed operators accounted for 59% of the total market's gross gaming result in H1 2026, up from 54% in H2 2025.

Market size, channelisation and recent trends

The KSA combined its 2025 market assessment with monitoring data for the first six months of 2026 in a market overview published on 29 October 2026. The Netherlands' total gambling market produced a gross gaming result of approximately €4.1 billion in 2025, down from €4.5 billion in 2024. The regulator reported an 18.2% decline in online casino activity in 2025 and a 30.2% decline in online sports betting for the same year.

The KSA linked part of that contraction to stronger player protection requirements introduced late in 2024 and to higher gambling taxes that took effect in January 2025. Within this context, the licensed online market's gross gaming result reached about €670 million in H1 2026, an increase of roughly 11% from the €602 million recorded in H2 2025.

The regulator estimated that 94% of people who gamble use legal operators exclusively, while revenue-based channelisation remained lower, a gap the KSA said reflects uncertainty in estimating illegal market activity and suggests unlicensed users may lose more money on average.

Accounts, individual participation and losses

Licensed operators reported an average of approximately 1.48 million active gambling accounts per month in H1 2026, up from 1.38 million in H2 2025. The KSA found no comparable rise in estimated individual gamblers: the monthly average of individual participants was roughly 490,000 in H1 2026, and about 820,000 people participated at least once during the six-month reporting period.

The KSA noted that multiple accounts per person partly explain the divergence between account and individual figures. Deposit restrictions introduced by operators and the men's football World Cup, which began in June 2026, may also have affected registrations and account activity.

Average loss figures differed between account and person metrics. The KSA reported average monthly losses of €75 per active account in H1 2026 and €34 per account for consumers aged 18 to 23. The estimated average loss per individual participant was €137 per month in H1 2026, up from €121 in H2 2025, an increase of approximately 13%. The regulator emphasised that the individual loss estimate is a statistical estimate rather than a direct measurement of every player's activity.

Young adults and account registration patterns

Young adults remain disproportionately represented in licensed online activity. Consumers aged 18 to 23 accounted for roughly 22% of active licensed gambling accounts in H1 2026, while that age group comprised only about 9.2% of the country's adult population. The KSA published further research on 20 August 2026 examining 16,266 accounts opened between 1 and 7 May 2025; after excluding accounts with no bet in May, 15,761 accounts were analysed.

In that sample approximately 33% of analysed accounts belonged to consumers aged 18 to 24, and 41% of that younger group were associated with individuals who were 18 years old. Looking at registration data from 2024 and 2025, the KSA found about 11% of accounts opened by 18-year-olds were registered on their eighteenth birthday and around 38% were created within one month of that birthday.

The regulator said these figures inform age-related exposure, marketing practice and preventive measure discussions without asserting that every young account-holder will develop problems.

Treatment, Cruks and involuntary registrations

Specialised addiction care institutions recorded 3,108 people receiving treatment in 2025 where gambling was the primary problem, an increase of more than 14% from 2,708 in 2024. The KSA's 2026 population monitoring estimated that about 65% of online gamblers participate without problematic gambling indicators, a share unchanged from the previous year, while the high-risk share remained about 9%.

The Central Register for Exclusion from Gambling, known as Cruks, continued growing. By 31 July 2026 roughly 120,200 people were registered in Cruks. During H1 2026 the KSA recorded 746 requests and notifications relating to involuntary registration, compared with 442 in the previous six-month period; the increase was especially associated with notifications from licensed operators.

Advertising, proposed measures and VNLOK's court action

The KSA measured a decline in internet advertisements placed by licensed online gambling operators of around 33% in H1 2026. Average monthly online advertisements by licensed providers fell from about 75,000 in H2 2025 to roughly 50,000 in H1 2026. Those figures concern licensed-provider online advertising rather than every gambling ad appearing on the internet.

In June 2026 the Dutch government announced a package of proposed measures to be developed into legislation that includes a prohibition on online gambling advertising, restrictions on bonuses and broader deposit limits, along with steps targeting illegal gambling and improvements to the Cruks system.

VNLOK, the industry association representing licensed Dutch online gambling providers, summoned Meta to the Amsterdam District Court on 28 September 2026 over illegal gambling advertising on Facebook and Instagram. VNLOK said in its August 2026 assessment that 96.5% of selected high-reach gambling advertisements examined in May were linked to unlicensed providers and 93.7% in June; it reported Meta removed 11% of identified illegal advertisements in May and 15% in June. VNLOK asked the court to assess Meta's obligations under the European Digital Services Act and to order measures preventing illegal gambling advertisements from reaching Dutch consumers.

"More than 90% of the gambling advertisements we examined were connected to operators without a Dutch gambling licence," VNLOK said in announcing the court summons on 28 September 2026.

The KSA emphasised that the government's proposals and VNLOK's allegations form part of ongoing policy and legal processes rather than established legal findings.

What the KSA report means for regulation

The KSA's H1 2026 monitoring presents a mixed picture: stronger revenue channelisation toward licensed operators coexists with persistent concerns about young-adult exposure, rising specialised treatment numbers and continued illegal advertising reaching Dutch consumers. The regulator's data supply concrete measures for policymakers weighing proposed advertising bans, deposit limits and enhancements to Cruks, while industry stakeholders pursue legal avenues concerning digital platform responsibilities.