Europe’s unregulated online gambling market was worth an estimated €12 billion in net revenue in 2025, according to research commissioned by EUROMAT, the European trade body for land-based gaming operators, and conducted by Helios and Regulus Partners. The figure is three times the study’s estimate for 2019 and represents around 25% of the online gambling sector across the markets examined. The research covers 28 European online gambling markets, including the 27 EU member states except Malta and Luxembourg, alongside the UK, Serbia and Montenegro. The findings put attention on the amount of gambling taking place outside national licensing systems, as regulators continue to consider how restrictions, consumer safeguards and enforcement should operate online. The researchers also argue that some regulatory measures may contribute to consumers using unregulated operators. That conclusion, however, is part of the study’s interpretation and does not by itself establish a direct causal link between regulation and the market’s growth.
Study Estimates Unregulated Market At €12bn
The study’s headline estimate puts Europe’s unregulated online gambling market at €12 billion in net revenue for 2025. It says the market has tripled since 2019 and now accounts for approximately one quarter of the online gambling sector across the 28 jurisdictions covered. The research was commissioned by EUROMAT and carried out by Helios and Regulus Partners. According to the researchers, the work involved more than 1,000 hours of analysis, combining digital marketing and web traffic data with economic, social and regulatory developments in individual countries.
The InterGame report on the findings says the research examined gambling activity outside regulated national markets and assessed developments across the jurisdictions included in the study. The study describes the market as gambling offered outside the regulated systems of the countries examined. That distinction is relevant because “illegal”, “unregulated” and “offshore” are not necessarily interchangeable terms across different jurisdictions. The markets covered include all EU member states except Malta and Luxembourg, with the UK, Serbia and Montenegro added to the sample. The research therefore provides an estimate for the jurisdictions studied rather than a measurement of every European gambling market.
The €12 billion figure is also an estimate rather than a directly recorded total. The researchers used web traffic, digital marketing and other economic and regulatory information to assess activity that is not captured through normal licensing data. G3 Newswire similarly reported the €12 billion figure as an estimate based on the research. The study says unregulated gambling is present in all 28 markets examined, with the share estimated to be substantially higher in some countries than others. iGaming Future reported that the unregulated share could reach 80% in some jurisdictions, although that remains an estimate produced by the study rather than a directly observed market figure.
The findings also sit alongside other estimates that use different methodologies. The European Casino Association has cited a separate Gambling Compliance International study that estimated illegal online gambling targeting EU consumers generated €91.6 billion in gross revenue in 2025 and resulted in €22.9 billion in lost tax revenue. That figure should not be directly compared with the €12 billion estimate because the studies use different definitions and measures. The EUROMAT study refers to net revenue, while the other estimate refers to gross revenue.
Researchers Link Growth To Regulation, Payments And Access
The EUROMAT study argues that regulation can influence whether consumers remain within licensed gambling markets. Helios project lead Filip Jelavić identified restrictions on products, state monopolies, taxation and affordability checks as factors that can create what the researchers describe as “consumer friction”.
The InterGame report says the researchers believe these factors may encourage some consumers to seek operators outside regulated markets. However, the study does not establish that specific regulations directly caused the market’s growth. Cryptocurrency is another factor highlighted by the research. The researchers argue that crypto can provide unregulated operators with additional payment options, while relatively few European gambling jurisdictions have established regulated ways for consumers to use cryptocurrency for gambling.
The study also points to affiliate marketing, saying cross-border affiliates can make unregulated operators harder for regulators to monitor. According to iGaming Future, the 25 largest operators in the study accounted for around 64% of relevant traffic, suggesting that activity is concentrated among a relatively small number of operators. Separate enforcement cases show that cross-border illegal gambling is also an issue for European authorities.
Illegal Online Casino from Ukraine with Annual Turnover of 50 Million Dollars Shut Down
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A Reddit discussion from 2025 also discussed an alleged illegal online casino operation in Ukraine involving cryptocurrency. The post said the operation had been running since 2021 and targeted customers in Ukraine as well as countries in Europe and Asia. The case is separate from the EUROMAT research and does not provide evidence for its €12 billion estimate. The findings come as regulators continue to consider how to restrict access to unlicensed gambling while maintaining consumer protections within regulated markets. The €12 billion figure remains a research estimate commissioned by an industry association, and its significance will depend in part on how regulators and independent researchers assess the methodology behind it.
