Dutch gambling figures suggests protection measures may have hurt channeling
The Dutch gambling regulator has published its latest report.
The Netherlands.- The Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has reported that the number of licence holders, the number of players, and player channelling remained steady in the second half of 2025 when compared to the previous six months. However, concerns have been raised over the amount of money spent on unlicensed gambling.
The gross gaming result for the second half of 2025 was €602m, up just €2m from six months earlier. The number of accounts used for play per month rose from 1.29m to 1.38m. The KSA said the increase was likely caused by the introduction of a net deposit limit in October 2024, which reduces the amount players can bet per account without having to share income details.
Because one player can have multiple accounts, the number of players is lower than the number of accounts. The KSA estimates that approximately 500,000 people played per month in the second half of 2025.
According to the KSA’s estimates, approximately 91 per cent of Dutch gamblers did so exclusively with legal providers, making the stabilisation rate stable. However, when looking at channelling in terms of money, it’s significantly lower at 53 per cent.
The KSA said the decline in channelling can also be explained by the newly introduced rules for player protection. The average player’s monthly loss has decreased since the introduction of protective measures but increased slightly in the second half of 2025 compared to the beginning of that year.
While the average loss per player was €117 per month at the beginning of 2025, it was €124 by the end of 2025. This takes into account the fact that players play with multiple providers and may not be active every month.
KSA chairman’s analysis
Writing in a blog on the KSA website, chair Michel Groothuizen said: “Studies show that the global share of the illegal market is growing, and we see this in other European countries as well. Various technological developments (including AI) and phenomena such as cryptocurrency gambling contribute to this.
“In the Netherlands, this trend may also be due to the various measures we have taken ourselves to better protect players at legal providers, such as the aforementioned established deposit limits. While six months ago we did not yet see that setting a deposit limit per provider led to the creation of multiple accounts, we now see that the number of accounts per player is increasing slightly.
“It is therefore quite possible that the financial capacity check that takes place starting from a certain amount encourages people to create another legal account elsewhere to circumvent that check, or to switch entirely to illegal offerings.”
Groothuizen commented on the possibility of legislative changes to address the deposit limit loophole.
He said: “There is much enthusiasm in politics to combat the circumvention of provider-specific deposit limits by means of an overarching gambling limit. This would put an end to hopping between different legal providers. Of course, this will not stop players from switching to illegal gambling.
“Fortunately, a great many Dutch people seem to value legal gambling, so perhaps the number of switchers will be lower than expected. This will undoubtedly also depend on the level of such an overarching limit. It also means that we must keep the legal offering visible to players (so no total ban on advertising), but also that, on the other hand, the illegal market must be tackled more effectively.”
Groothuizen also raised concerns about the number of young adults gambling. Players aged 18 to 24 accounted for 22 per cent of the accounts used in the second half of 2025 despite making up only 9.3 per cent of the adult population. On average, however, they lose less money per player account used than adult players at €34 per month compared to €73. Compared to the total player population, young adults play relatively more sports bets.
