Germany’s Gemeinsamen Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL) has published its annual report for 2025, which highlights the developments in the regulated gambling space, the enforcement initiatives that have been introduced against illegal operators, as well as the player protection programs.
The report by GGL showed. that legally regulated German gambling market reported €14.4bn in gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2025, which accounted for a constant figure compared to the previous year. Gambling taxes took €6.9bn, which was a 1% decrease compared to 2024. The online gambling segment continued its upward trend €3.5bn, which is a 2% YoY increase.
Throughout the year 2025, the regulator has:
- Examined 28,478 games to allow them to enter the regulated market, involve 956 online slot games.
- Reported 621 compliance checks on licensed operators.
- Managed 148 applications for licenses and license modifications.
- Closed the year with 135 licensed operators on the official whitelist that includes 232 gambling sites.
The GGL has boosted the fight against illegal gambling throughout the year, announcing that it:
- Has closed down 1,843 illegal gambling websites.
- Has issued 287 cease-and-desist orders to illegal operators and advertisers.
- Forced 152 companies (notably 66 operators and 86 advertisers) to leave the German market.
- Filed 86 criminal law complaints to law enforcement bodies.
- Participated in 47 court cases.
- Joined effort with payment gateways to persuade 38 payment processors to disconnect from illegal gambling operators working on 178 gambling websites.
The national gambling monitoring system (LUGAS) noted that during the year 2025, there were 5.3 million registered players.
The GGL has continued conducting three scientific research projects related to online gambling regulation budgeting approximately 1.4m euros.
