The Netherlands' Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa) reported an increase in accounts used for licensed online gambling in figures released on 29 October. Its latest monitoring report records an average of 1.48 million active accounts a month in January-June 2026, compared with 1.38 million in the preceding six months. That is an account count, not 1.48 million different people.
The regulator published two reports together: a monitor of online gambling in the first half of 2026 and an annual scan of the licensed market in 2025. The release announcement says the number of people gambling has not increased significantly. Reading the figures requires keeping the reporting period, unit and method attached to each number.
Monthly accounts and half-year participants measure different things
The online monitoring report, pages 11-14, counts accounts separately from people. One person can use several providers, so operator records cannot identify every unique customer across providers.
| Published figure | Period | Unit and scope |
|---|---|---|
| 1.48 million | Average month in January-June 2026 | Active accounts at licensed online providers |
| About 490,000 | Average month in January-June 2026 | Estimated people using licensed online providers |
| About 820,000 | January-June 2026 as a whole | Estimated people active with licensed online providers at least once |
People are estimated using a GfK panel of about 6,000, including roughly 300 online gambling participants. Ksa warns about extrapolation; these estimates are not a cross-operator register of identified customers.
The table also contains two time windows. Someone active in February and April can belong to the half-year population without being active in every month. Dividing a monthly account figure by the six-month people estimate would not produce a sound accounts-per-person measure. Nor does an extra account establish that another person has started gambling.
Two channelisation percentages have different bases
Ksa reports that about 94% of people who gamble use only licensed provision. Including people using both licensed and unlicensed providers raises its alternative participant measure to 97%. The figures describe the treatment of mixed users, not two competing estimates of the share of money retained in the licensed market.
Its separate monetary estimate puts licensed-market channelisation at 59% in the first half of 2026, against 54% in the previous reporting period. These are the regulator's reported percentages; they should not be reconstructed from rounded participant counts or treated as interchangeable with them.
Pages 16-18 describe a search-volume model for unlicensed revenue. It excludes providers suspected of manipulating search volume and limits the revised series to summer 2025 onwards. Older estimates are not directly comparable.
For a reader checking a website, an aggregate channelisation percentage does not establish that site's permission. Our Netherlands licensing guide addresses that separate verification task.
The annual market decline is a 2025 comparison
The annual market scan, pages 4 and 9, puts the total licensed market's gross gaming result at €4.1 billion in 2025, compared with €4.5 billion in 2024. The comparison is inflation-adjusted to 2025 prices and covers licensed online and land-based gambling, including lotteries. It excludes the illegal market.
Within that annual comparison, online casino gross gaming result fell 18.2% and online betting fell 30.2%. These are not first-half 2026 declines. The monitor separately reports €670 million of licensed online gross gaming result in January-June 2026, against €602 million in July-December 2025.
Gross gaming result, called BSR in the Dutch reports, measures stakes less prizes paid. It is different from total amounts wagered and from an operator's net profit; our gambling revenue glossary explains those distinctions.
A reader comparing headlines should retain the original report, reporting window, price basis and definition alongside the figure. A national average cannot establish a particular person's losses or risk of gambling harm. These reports also do not certify an individual operator's safety. Readers seeking support can use our responsible-gambling resources.