Growth reported in Dutch online gambling market

Dutch gaming regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has revealed growth of 7.6% for the nation’s online gambling market.

The figures released in a market report by the KSA value the Dutch online gambling industry's gross gaming income at €269m for 2015, up from around €275m in 2014.

A total of 437,000 Dutch people gamble online according to the KSA data, out of a total population of 16.9m.

The report confirmed that men are more likely to gamble online, with bingo the most popular game among the female Dutch population.

Also revealed in the KSA’s report was that 83% of Dutch people currently gambling online have displayed no signs of a gambling problem, with 11% judged to be at risk of developing a gambling problem and 5.2% deemed to be already showing signs of such behaviour.

Online gambling in the Netherlands remains unregulated, with severe delays hampering the passage of the country’s Remote Gaming Bill.

The KSA expects the bill to have passed into law by 2017.

Should the bill pass within the expected timeframe, the regulator also outlined plans to channel 76% of its online market to Dutch licensed operators by 2020.