Online gambling revenue hit €1.1 billion in 2022 as 365,000 people gamble monthly
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Online gambling companies earned a gross total of just under 1.1 billion euros last year, the Gambling Authority reported on Wednesday. An estimated 365,000 people gamble every month, losing an average of 143 euros per month, the regulator said in its fourth “monitoring report” since online gambling became legal in the Netherlands in October 2021.
The number of accounts on online gambling sites more than doubled to 859,000 in the second half of 2022. Gamblers can have accounts on multiple sites, so the Gambling Authority estimates the number of active gamblers lower. The majority of online gamblers, 57 percent, have one account. 22 percent have four or more accounts.
The regulator specifically looked into young adult gamblers’ behavior. According to addiction experts, this group is specifically vulnerable. In January of this year, there were around 183,000 accounts with online casinos belonging to young adults, with each having 2.6 accounts on average. Young adults gamble more than older players, but their losses are far below the average at 54 euros.
Gambling Authority chairman Rene Jansen isn’t overly concerned about the growth in the market, telling NOS it was expected with legalization. He is more concerned that not all online casinos fulfill their duty of care equally well. For example, gambling companies must be alert to problem gambling behavior and extreme losses, among other things. The regulator is conducting a closer investigation into that.
According to the Gambling Authority, it is not yet clear what effect legalization has on gambling addiction. But until last month, 38,000 people had signed up for a voluntary “gambling stop” - a register that prevents them from gambling online for at least six months. That number grew strongly during the FIFA World Cup at the end of last year, particularly among men.
