Belgians wagered €36.3 billion in 2025 as National Lottery calls for stronger player protection

Following the publication of the Belgian Gaming Commission's 2025 annual figures, the National Lottery has called for a broader assessment of gambling activity in Belgium.

In a statement dated 30 September 2026, the public operator highlighted the continued growth in the amounts wagered at casinos, gaming halls and betting operators.

Combined stakes reached €36.3 billion in 2025, compared with €33.7 billion in 2024. That represents an increase of more than €2.6 billion, or 7.8%.

The casino sector accounted for much of that growth. Total stakes at physical and online casinos exceeded €20 billion, up 15.1% year on year.

However, these figures require some context.

The €36.3 billion represents total wagers, not the amount players deposited or lost. It includes winnings that were subsequently used to place additional bets. The figure covers casinos, gaming halls and betting, rather than every form of gambling available in Belgium.

A player can therefore generate a considerable volume of bets while repeatedly wagering the same money.

This distinction is central to the debate.

Belgium's regulated gambling market generated approximately €1.62 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2025, virtually unchanged from the previous year.

GGR represents the difference between the total amount wagered and the winnings paid back to players. It is an important indicator of the economic size of the gambling industry.

But it does not necessarily reflect how frequently or intensively people gamble.

According to the National Lottery, stakes at casinos, gaming halls and betting operators increased by 7.8%, while their combined GGR grew by approximately 3%.

This difference partly reflects higher average payout rates.

When games return a larger proportion of wagers to players, winnings can be recycled into additional bets. As a result, the overall betting volume may grow considerably without a corresponding increase in GGR.

The National Lottery argues that higher payout rates can also make games more engaging by reinforcing the experience of winning.

However, wagering volume alone cannot determine whether individual players are experiencing gambling-related harm. Understanding that relationship requires information about playing frequency, session duration, spending patterns and player behaviour.

The Commission's figures also reveal contrasting trends in online participation.

The number of new players joining licensed online gambling platforms fell by approximately 43% in 2025, from 193,342 to 110,032.

At the same time, the average number of daily active players increased by 3%, reaching 160,144.

The regulated online market is therefore attracting fewer new participants, but activity among existing players remains substantial.

For the National Lottery, this reinforces the argument that registration figures and operator revenue are insufficient to assess overall gambling exposure.

A decline in new registrations does not necessarily mean that existing players are gambling less.

Nor does it establish whether people who no longer appear on licensed platforms have stopped gambling or moved elsewhere.

Another major concern is the growing number of people choosing to exclude themselves from gambling.

According to the Gaming Commission, 66,998 people were voluntarily excluded from gambling at the end of 2025, compared with 56,458 a year earlier.

That is an increase of 10,540 people, or approximately 18.7%.

People aged 21 to 39 accounted for a particularly large share of voluntary exclusion applications.

Belgium's EPIS self-exclusion system allows people to block their access to regulated gambling platforms and establishments. It is one of the country's most important player protection mechanisms.

The increase in voluntary exclusions deserves attention, although it should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that gambling addiction has risen by the same percentage.

It may also reflect greater awareness of self-exclusion and improved access to protective measures.

What the figures clearly demonstrate is growing use of the system.

In its official statement on the 2025 annual report, the National Lottery identifies five areas where Belgian gambling policy could be improved.

Its first priority is to measure gambling exposure more accurately, taking into account not only GGR but also stakes, playing frequency, intensity and active player numbers.

The second is to make protection measures proportionate to the risks associated with individual games. The Lottery proposes an independent risk indicator that would allow different gambling products to be assessed using comparable criteria.

Third, operators should identify potentially harmful playing patterns earlier and intervene when necessary. These interventions should also be documented so that regulators can assess their effectiveness.

The fourth priority concerns data quality. The National Lottery supports more consistent and comparable statistics, alongside a comprehensive Belgian report dedicated specifically to player protection.

Finally, it calls for additional resources for the Gaming Commission so that the regulator can supervise licensed operators while continuing to tackle illegal gambling.

One of the most significant proposals concerns the introduction of a common risk assessment system.

Not all gambling products have identical characteristics. Playing speed, the frequency of potential wins, the ability to replay immediately and the structure of betting options can all influence how a game is experienced.

The National Lottery believes that advertising restrictions, access conditions and prevention measures should take these differences into account.

Such an approach could potentially result in different rules for different products rather than applying identical restrictions across the entire market.

However, the development of a risk classification system raises important questions.

Who determines the risk associated with each game? How are those assessments validated? And how can regulators ensure that the same standards apply fairly to both public and private operators?

An independent methodology would be essential if such a system were introduced.

The National Lottery also supports the regulator's longstanding request for more staff and better enforcement tools.

At the end of 2025, the Gaming Commission had only 33.4 full-time-equivalent employees effectively available, compared with the 57 positions included in its staffing plan.

This shortage makes it more difficult to supervise a market that is becoming increasingly digital and complex.

The Commission is simultaneously responsible for monitoring licensed gambling operators and combating illegal online casinos operating in Belgium.

According to the National Lottery, neither responsibility should come at the expense of the other.

Stronger enforcement against illegal operators is important, but so is ensuring that licensed platforms comply with their player protection obligations.

The National Lottery's intervention raises a relevant question: what should Belgium measure when assessing gambling risks?

GGR provides a useful picture of the industry's economic performance. Total stakes offer insight into the volume of gambling activity. Neither measure, considered alone, establishes how much harm players experience.

For CasinoRating, meaningful player protection requires a broader assessment.

The frequency of play, spending behaviour, session duration, use of protective tools and operators' responses to warning signs all deserve attention.

At the same time, regulation must remain consistent, independently assessed and applicable to comparable products, regardless of whether they are offered by a public or private operator.

The €36.3 billion figure makes the scale of gambling activity difficult to ignore. The challenge now is to turn better data into effective safeguards without losing sight of the need to keep players within a properly regulated market.