EGBA Sustainability Report: Members Paid €4.5bn in Taxes in 2025, Harm Funding Restated

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) said on 13 November 2026 that its latest sustainability report shows members contributed more than €5.5 billion to European society in 2025, including €4.5 billion in taxes.

The release landed three days before European Safer Gambling Week, which runs from 16 to 22 November 2026. The figures are the association's own, compiled from member data. The report also carries a correction to last year's harm-prevention funding number, which is the most consequential detail for anyone comparing the two editions.

What the 2026 EGBA sustainability report says

EGBA's headline is a total contribution above €5.5 billion for 2025. Taxes make up most of it, at €4.5 billion, which is roughly four-fifths of the total. The rest covers sport and other social contributions.

The €3.8 billion tax baseline for 2024 matches what EGBA published in its July 2025 release. The sport figure follows the €735 million reported a year earlier by Focus Gaming News.

Safer gambling tool use

Voluntary use of safer gambling tools grew in 2025. According to iGaming Express, 16.5 million customer accounts used such tools, equal to 38% of accounts, compared with 34% before. That is a 25% increase in the number of users year on year.

The 28.2 million figure is wider. It adds customers who were covered by mandatory measures, such as limits imposed by a national regulator. The two numbers measure different things, and the 16.5 million voluntary count is the one EGBA uses to show customer take-up.

Restated harm-funding figure

The most notable change concerns money directed to problem gambling research, education and treatment, often shortened to RET. NEXT.io reported that last year's edition put 2024 RET funding at €148.9 million, a number that was widely repeated. The 2026 edition revises it to €64.8 million, a reduction of about €84 million.

Against that restated base, the €98.2 million reported for 2025 is a 52% increase. Measured against the original €148.9 million, the 2025 figure would be a decline. An EGBA spokesperson told NEXT.io the error was corrected openly. According to NEXT.io, the release also states that the report has not been externally audited.

For operators, regulators and journalists who cited the earlier figure, the practical point is to use the revised €64.8 million as the 2024 comparison.

Illegal gambling and leadership

Interim Secretary General Pierre Tournier said illegal gambling is the greatest threat to the sustainability of the industry, according to iGaming Express. That framing is consistent with arguments made across the sector, including by Austria's trade body in its call for reform and in regulator estimates such as France's ANJ assessment of its illegal market.

Tournier holds the post on an interim basis because Maarten Haijer is stepping down after 13 years, according to the EGBA website. The 2025 sustainability report was published under Haijer's leadership.

Membership has grown in the meantime. EGBA's July 2026 activity report lists 401 licences across 22 countries, compared with 321 licences in 21 countries in the 2025 sustainability report.

Why it matters for operators

Trade bodies increasingly use contribution figures to argue against higher gambling taxes. The debate over levy design is live elsewhere in Europe; the Swedish trade body BOS, for example, warned that an EU anti-money laundering fine plan risks double punishment. EGBA's tax numbers will likely feature in similar lobbying, so the self-reported nature of the data and the 2024 restatement are relevant to how far the figures can be relied on in policy debate.

Status reviewed on 13 November 2026. The key figures come from EGBA's 2026 sustainability report release as reported by iGaming Express and NEXT.io, alongside EGBA's earlier published reports. More business news and EMEA coverage.