Denmark’s unlicensed gambling sites took 26% of Danish players’ online losses in 2025, up from 16% in 2020, according to figures published on 22 October by Spillebranchen, the trade association for Denmark’s licensed gambling operators.
Danes lose more than DKK 2.1bn (about €280m) a year at operators without a Danish licence, the association said. More than one krone in every four lost online now goes to those sites.
Unlicensed market growth in Denmark
The unlicensed online market in Denmark almost tripled between 2020 and 2025, according to Spillebranchen’s analysis. The licensed market grew 21% over the same five years.
Spillebranchen puts the share of all Danish gambling on grey and unregulated sites at almost 25%. Players on those sites sit outside ROFUS, the national self-exclusion register, and outside Danish age checks, deposit limits and marketing rules.
The association said Denmark is among the European markets where offshore online gambling is growing fastest. The 2025 licensed market is covered in our Denmark iGaming 2025 report.
The debate on bill L 37
The figures came out on the day set for the Folketing’s first reading of bill L 37, which puts large parts of the government’s first gambling package, Spilpakke 1, into law. The package tightens rules on age verification, player protection and advertising for licensed operators.
Spillebranchen said it backs the bill’s aims on minors and problem gambling. Its objection is scope: the stricter duties fall on licensed operators, while unlicensed sites, which the association says aim their advertising at minors and problem gamblers, face few new measures.
If the goal is to protect players, politicians also need to address the part of the market where protection is not available. Otherwise, we risk making the legal market unattractive while the illegal market continues to grow.
Morten Rønde, Director, Spillebranchen (translated from Danish)
Rønde said experience from other European countries shows regulation works best “when it both protects consumers and keeps players with licensed providers.”
Denmark has already acted on the offshore market. Bill L 127, presented on 25 February 2026 by Minister for Taxation Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, proposed blocking intermediary sites that steer Danish players to unlicensed operators, set criteria for fines and higher penalties for aggravated unlicensed offering.
Next steps
After the first reading, L 37 goes to committee before the second and third readings. Spillebranchen asked that future rules be based on an analysis of the new measures’ effects and on results from comparable markets, and that they target the unregulated market directly. More Nordic coverage is on our Nordics page.
Source: Spillebranchen
