UK illegal gambling stakes surge to £16.6bn, BGC says
A new study suggests the amount spent with unlicensed gambling operators has doubled in two years.
UK.- The gambling industry lobby group, the Betting and Gaming Council, has warned that the amount staked with illegal gambling operators in Britain has risen to over £16bn. That would represent a two-fold increase in just two years, and a three-fold increase from 2019.
The figure comes from research by H2 Gambling Capital (H2GC). It found that offshore betting stakes had grown from around £5bn in 2019 to £16.6bn in 2025 and that both stakes and operator profits had doubled between 2023 and 2025.
The study also claims that the share of gambling taking place through Gambling Commission-licensed operators fell from 97 per cent in 2019 to 92 per cent in 2025. The press release provides no details about how any of the figures were calculated, and regulators have tended to question the accuracy of industry-commissioned surveys.
The Gambling Commission has said that it has seen no evidence of a rise in engagement with unlicensed gambling, although it is seeking to appoint a new head of illegal markets to enhance its enforcement efforts following the creation of a new illegal gambling taskforce.
The BGC says the rise of the black market is being driven by a combination of factors, including increased regulatory pressure and the growing visibility of illegal operators online. It also mentioned higher taxation, although the increase in Remote Gaming Duty only came into force last month so didn’t contribute to the figures cited.
The BGC added that a previous analysis by WARC shows illegal operators now account for almost half of all UK gambling advertising spend, with that share expected to become the majority within two years.
BGC chief executive Grainne Hurst said: “What we are seeing is a harmful black market scaling up at pace. Illegal operators are becoming more sophisticated, more visible and more aggressive in how they reach UK customers. That should concern anyone who cares about consumer protection.
“The choice for policymakers is clear. If the regulated sector becomes harder to use or less competitive, customers will not stop betting, they will simply go elsewhere. That is why financial risk assessments must either be genuinely ‘frictionless’ or not introduced at all – because anything else will push customers out of the regulated market.”
The BGC continues to argue that efforts to reduce gambling harm need to be carefully balanced to avoid unintended consequences that strengthen the illegal market. It stressed that the regulated betting and gaming sector supports over 109,000 jobs, contributes £6.8bn to the UK economy and raises £4bn in tax each year, while also providing funding for British horseracing.
The BGC recently appointed Kane Purdy, Managing Director at Gamesys Operations, as its new non-executive chair. He replaces Michael Dugher, who stepped down in January after just under two years in the role.
