New report shows scale of European gambling operators’ tax contributions
The EGBA has reported that its members contributed €3.8bn in taxes.
Belgium.- The European Gaming and Betting Association’s (EGBA) latest sustainability report shows that the trade body’s members contributed €3.8bn in taxes to the European economy in 2024. That figure comprises corporate and gaming taxes paid by online gambling operators belonging to the association.
The EGBA says an additional €735m was invested in European sports through sponsorships, fees, and streaming rights payments, with streaming rights accounting for 62 per cent of the figure. Meanwhile, €156.8m was donated to charities and community initiatives across Europe, up by 4 per cent year-on-year.
The association’s fifth annual sustainability also highlights progress on player protection, noting that members sent 100m safety messages to European customers in 2024 – an increase of 48 per cent year-on-year increase. Some 28 per cent of these messages were personalised, based on a customer’s individual playing behaviour, and were primarily delivered to customers via pop-ups (67 per cent) and email (25 per cent).
Personalised messages were found to have positive impacts on 42-46 per cent of customers with high-risk behaviours, with customers either improving their play or maintaining stable patterns following targeted messages. Some 21 per cent of these customers also activated or strengthened safety tools following personalised messages.
Overall, 69 per cent of customers (26.7 million people) used safety tools, with half doing so voluntarily. Deposit limits remained the most popular tool, used by 65 per cent of customers who use tools voluntarily.
As for employees, members reported a combined 62,698 employees across both land-based and online operations – 57 per cent male and 43 per cent female. Some 89 per cent received safer gambling training, accounting for over 55,000 employees across online and land-based operations.
The EGBA said the Sustainability Report 2025 outlines collective efforts to contribute positively to European society through safer gambling, social investment and responsible business practices. It includes data from members operating in the European Union (EU) and in the UK.
Operators had a combined 38.6m customer accounts in 2024, representing a 19 per cent year-on-year increase. Some 75 per cent of customers were male. There were 15.9 million customer service interactions, a 10 per cent yearly increase, with the most popular topic being offers/bonuses (18 per cent).
In terms of environmental impact, energy consumption decreased by 11 per cent to 190.2 gigawatt hours (GWh), covering both land-based and online operations, and 78 per cent of energy use was sourced from renewables. That’s an increase from 64 per cent in 2023. Greenhouse gas emissions were 1.15m tonnes CO2e, with value chain emissions (Scope 3) accounting for 95 per cent of the total.
“This year’s report shows our members are not only positive contributors to Europe’s economy but also setting industry benchmarks for safer gambling,” said Maarten Haijer, secretary general of EGBA. “We’re especially encouraged by the success of personalised safety messages, which our report shows to be positively impacting between 42% to 46% of customers showing high-risk behaviours. That’s genuinely meaningful progress that builds trust and helps raise standards across the wider industry.”
“Our members are showing that leadership in our industry is about more than commercial success – it’s about protecting players, supporting communities, and investing in Europe’s future,” Haijer added. “But sustaining these achievements requires stable and supportive regulatory frameworks and stronger enforcement against black market operators based outside Europe, who threaten the safety of European citizens and contribute nothing to our societies.
“The regulated industry makes substantial investments, but we need a longer-term policy vision in some national markets.”
EGBA to update AML guidelines
The EGBA recently announced that it will consider amending sections of its anti-money laundering guidelines for European online gambling operators. Following feedback, it said it will look at incorporating a minimum list of documents for AML purposes and enhanced guidance on risk assessments, payments, outsourcing, and sports integrity.
It said the guidelines will be updated in 2026 to align with the rules of the new EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation. The association is inviting non-member operators can participate in the guidelines process, and says one such company is already involved.
The announcement comes following the completion of the EGBA’s second annual monitoring process for the guidelines, which it sees as a milestone in its commitment to strengthening AML compliance across Europe’s online gambling sector.
