Online Gambling Doubling Outpaces Ad-Ban Restrictions as Licensed Bookies Bear Regulatory Cost Alone

The Sciensano Health Interview Survey 2023-2024 found that 14.8% of the Belgian population now gambles online – nearly double the 7.9% recorded in the 2018 survey wave – despite the country’s 2023 advertising ban on licensed private gambling operators. The Belgian Association of Gaming Operators (BAGO) has called for stronger enforcement against unlicensed providers after the same survey showed 52.6% of Belgians are exposed weekly to at least one form of gambling advertising. The trade body’s intervention this week frames the persistent weekly reach as the byproduct of two structural carve-outs in Belgian regulation: the National Lottery’s exemption from the country’s Gambling Act, and the continued presence of an illegal online gambling market that operates outside practical advertising restrictions.

Overall, 31.9% of the Belgian population gambled at least once in the past 12 months and 8.0% gambled weekly per the Sciensano HIS 2023-2024 wave, with online gambling growth concentrated in the 25-to-34 age bracket, with 20.2% playing on the internet. The same survey found 2.6% of the Belgian population at risk of experiencing problem gambling using the PGSI (Problem Gambling Severity Index) short-form screening tool, rising to 7.7% among those who gambled in the past 12 months. Weekly advertising exposure peaks on television (51.1%), websites and apps (47.3%), and social media (46.4%), with secondary exposure via street advertising (45.2%), in-shop displays (44.1%), and newspapers and magazines (28.6%).

Belgium’s regulatory framework prohibits licensed private gambling operators from advertising via television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and social media, alongside direct communication channels including email, post, and SMS. Limited exceptions remain in place for in-venue communication, operators’ own websites, and certain forms of targeted search engine advertising. A separate sports sponsorship ban came into effect at the start of 2025, further narrowing licensed operators’ marketing options across the country’s professional sports leagues.

The National Lottery falls largely outside Belgium’s Gambling Act despite accounting for the overwhelming majority of player participation. Sciensano data indicates that lottery games are the single most popular gambling type at 29.5% of the population – translating to roughly 92% of all Belgian gamblers. Lottery advertising therefore remains broadly permitted across television, radio, and social media channels, channels that licensed private operators cannot use under the 2023 ad ban framework.

Belgium’s experience tracks a wider European pattern of restrictive gambling regulation coinciding with black market growth. Italian football federation analysis published in April linked the country’s 2018 Dignity Decree advertising ban to roughly €25 billion in annual unlicensed wagers, while an independent 2024 study found the Netherlands’ illegal market share grew from approximately 20% in 2021 to over 35% late in 2023 after stringent deposit limits and advertising bans took effect.

The Sciensano report also flagged the continued presence of the illegal online gambling market as outside the practical reach of Belgian advertising restrictions, with unlicensed operators continuing to target Belgian consumers through social media, affiliate platforms, and influencer channels without consulting the EPIS (Excluded Persons Information System) self-exclusion database, enforcing weekly deposit limits, applying age verification, or meeting the player protection requirements applied to licensed operators.

Belgium’s enforcement situation contrasts with recent UK measures. The UK Gambling Commission posted a senior “Head of Illegal Markets” role this week alongside £26 million in new government funding for black market enforcement, after research surfaced by the Betting and Gaming Council found the UK black market had grown to £16.6 billion in 2025, more than tripling from 2019.

BAGO summarized the policy gap in its response statement, arguing that the 52.6% weekly ad exposure metric “does not originate exclusively from licensed private operators” but is “also influenced by actors who fall outside the prohibition, operate under transitional regimes, or fail to comply with the rules.”