Amount staked on Black Market Operators Tripled in the UK from 2019-25

The annual amount staked with illegal gambling operators from UK-based players has more than tripled to £16.6 billion since 2019, an H2 Gambling Capital study has found.

According to the study, the amount staked on offshore betting has grown from £5 billion in 2019, with both stakes and operator profits doubling between 2023 and 2025. The data also shows a lower proportion of bets are being placed on regulated sites, falling from 97% of bets to 92% in 2025.

Offshore gross gambling yield (GGY) is estimated to have increased to £685 million for 2025, up from £200 million in 2019. It is difficult to quantify the exact percentage of the UK online gambling market this accounts for, as regulator the Gambling Commission publishes data in financial rather than calendar years.

Black market share increasing

However, remote GGY for April 2024 to March 2025 in the regulated market was £7.8 billion. While it is not a like-for-like comparison, this would give black market operators an 8.7% share of the market.

Turnover for remote betting in 2024/25 was £138.52 billion, meaning the £16.6 billion being staked on unlicensed operators would represent 12% of the market.

This is the latest research which points towards a growing black market in the UK. Earlier this week, a macroeconomic study published by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research found measures from the government’s 2023 Gambling White Paper will have a net negative impact of approximately £189 million per year on the wider UK economy, in part driven by greater numbers betting on unlicensed websites.

The study found about 8% of people who regularly gamble reported they would consistently consider visiting unlicensed gambling websites. When this move to the black market is taken into account, the estimated net negative impact increases to £189 million per year from £134 million per year.

Reacting to H2 Gambling Capital’s study, Grainne Hurst, Chief Executive of industry trade body the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), 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.”

Why the black market could grow

Increased black market activity is forecast following the implementation of the White Paper. Among the terms recommended were affordability checks (also known as financial risk assessments), improved identification checks, a statutory levy, and a cap on the maximum stakes on online slots at £5 for older adults and £2 for younger adults.

There is also the potential for black market activity to increase in the wake of increased online taxation. From the start of April, remote gaming duty, paid on online casino bets, was raised from 21% of GGY to 40%.

In addition, general betting duty, paid on online sports bets, will go up from 15% of GGY to 25% in April 2027; bets on horseracing will be exempt from this.

In April, research from market intelligence firm the World Advertising Research Centre (WARC) showed unregulated firms account for close to half of all UK gambling advertising spend, with the trend showing this is set to account for a majority of spend in the future.