German Gambling Authority Denies Half of Gamblers Play Illegally

The German Gambling Authority (GGL) has rejected the recent study by the University of Leipzig that claimed almost half of Germany’s gamblers use unlicensed online platforms.

The study, which we reported on earlier, said that 49.3% of Germans still use illegal operators for online gambling, and that these platforms rake in 75% of the industry’s total revenue in the country. The study blamed the state’s ineffective gambling policies for this situation.

But the GGL says that the study is way off the mark, and that its own data shows that the share of the illegal gambling market in Germany is only 2–4% (or €300–500 million in turnover).

According to the regulator, there are about 800–900 sites with illegal gambling activities operating in the country, and that it uses the most comprehensive and up-to-date methods to collect data on them.

The GGL rejects the study authors’ arguments that the official data collection methods are outdated and inaccurate. However, it admits that data collection is challenging due to the constantly changing nature of the black market. Therefore, the GGL’s official statistics are estimates and reflect market trends over a specific time period.

The regulator also said that it welcomes “scientific discourse on survey methods” and that it is “open to new or further developed approaches to gaining knowledge and is continually developing its data collection methods.” But it clearly disagreed with the Leipzig University study.