Ksa spring 2025 report: towards safer gambling
•
14 Apr 2025 •
Reading time: 2 minutes The Kansspelautoriteit’s spring 2025 report reveals a significant drop in extreme losses among online gamblers, thanks to the new responsible gambling rules introduced at the end of 2024. While young adults are still very much in evidence, with distinct gambling habits, particularly in sports betting, more of them are also signing up to the Cruks self-exclusion register. Despite widespread use of legal platforms (91%), half of all spending still takes place on the illegal market, highlighting the need to step up the fight against unauthorised operators.
The issue of responsible gambling is more than ever at the heart of the concerns of the Dutch authorities. In publishing its monitoring report for spring 2025, the Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa), the Netherlands’ gambling regulator, has drawn up a detailed and documented assessment of developments in the sector. This report, which has been eagerly awaited since the implementation of new, stricter rules in October 2024, provides an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the measures taken.
Extreme losses sharply fall
Since the new rules came into force in October 2024, extreme losses have fallen considerably. The percentage of accounts losing more than €1,000 per month has fallen from 4% to just 1.2%. In addition, the share of gross gaming revenue (GGR) from these high-loss players has fallen from 73% to 23%. This indicates a significant reduction in operators’ reliance on high-spending players.
Young adults under scrutiny
Young adults aged between 18 and 23 represent a particularly vulnerable population. Although they make up 9% of the adult population, they generated 11% of the BSR in the second half of 2024. However, their average monthly losses amount to €48, compared with €148 for gamblers aged 24 and over. Notably, 29% of this age group’s spend is on sports betting, compared with 22% for other age groups.
Growth in the number of accounts and stability in the number of players
The average number of active accounts per month rose from 1.1 million to 1.19 million. This corresponds to around 788,000 unique players, or 5.4% of the adult population, a figure that is stable compared with the previous period.
Channelling: a persistent challenge
Channelling, i.e. the proportion of players using legal operators, remains high in terms of the number of players, with 91% of online players using legal services. However, in terms of amounts spent, 50% are still spent on the illegal market.
Self-exclusion and addiction treatment
In January 2025, 87,345 people were on the Cruks self-exclusion register, half of whom were under the age of 32. Young adults accounted for 16% of these registrations, reflecting a growing awareness of the risks associated with gambling. In 2023, 2,456 people were treated for gambling addiction. Figures for 2024 are not yet available.