The illegal gambling market in the UK has surged to an unprecedented £16.6bn (US$22.5bn), as reported by H2 Gambling Capital and shared by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC). This marks a significant increase from £5bn ($6.79 billion) in 2019, highlighting a rapidly growing black market in the country.
Current figures indicate that illegal gambling has more than tripled since 2019, doubling in just the past two years. The sharp rise from 2023 to 2025 in stakes and operator profits underscores the difficulty in curbing this expanding black market. At the same time, the share of gambling through regulated platforms has declined from 97% to 92%, revealing a shift toward unlicensed operators.
Industry analysts attribute this trend to several factors, including stricter regulations, increased taxes and the proliferation of illegal gambling sites online. According to separate data from WARC, unlicensed operators now constitute nearly half of all gambling advertising targeting UK customers, with expectations of further growth.
The BGC has expressed significant concern over this trend, repeatedly emphasising the dangers posed by unregulated platforms. These operators, outside of UK law, avoid taxes, lack consumer protection measures and do not adhere to the standards imposed on licensed entities.
Grainne Hurst, BGC CEO, says: “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.”
“If the regulated sector becomes harder to use or less competitive, customers will not stop betting; they will simply go elsewhere.”
Additionally, the industry body has raised alarms about proposed financial risk checks, suggesting that if not implemented smoothly, they could inadvertently drive users further into the black market.
