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The number of people entering specialist treatment for gambling addiction in the Netherlands continued to rise last year, with online betting increasingly shaping the country’s addiction landscape nearly five years after the market was opened to private operators.
New figures from the Dutch addiction-care monitor LADIS show that 3,108 people received treatment for gambling-related problems in 2025, up from 2,750 a year earlier. The 13% increase marks another annual jump after several years in which gambling-treatment numbers had actually declined.
The shift has become difficult to separate from the rapid expansion of legal online gambling. Digital betting platforms were legalized in October 2021 under the Remote Gambling Act, a move supporters framed as a way to regulate an already active black market. Addiction specialists warned from the beginning that easier access, constant advertising and smartphone-based betting would pull more people into problematic gambling behavior.
The treatment data now appears to be moving in that direction.
Researchers behind the LADIS report noted that the increase cannot be explained away as a statistical quirk caused by additional clinics participating in the national monitoring system. The upward trend also appeared among institutions that have consistently submitted figures for nearly a decade.
One detail stands out in particular: roughly half of those entering treatment for gambling addiction had not previously received specialist addiction care. That suggests the rise is not mainly driven by former addicts cycling back into treatment, but by new patients entering the system for the first time.
From Liberalisation to Restrictions
The Netherlands initially embraced a relatively open gambling market after legalization. Operators flooded television, radio, football stadiums and social media with advertising campaigns, while hundreds of thousands of users opened accounts within months of the market launch.
Political pressure followed quickly.
The Dutch government has since tightened restrictions step by step. Untargeted gambling advertisements were banned, sports sponsorship deals are being phased out, and new limits were introduced on how much players can deposit daily into betting accounts.
The national self-exclusion register, Cruks, has also grown rapidly. More than 100,000 people have now signed up to block themselves from licensed casinos, slot-machine halls and online gambling platforms.
Even with the rise in gambling cases, alcohol remains by far the largest addiction category in Dutch specialist care. Of the nearly 68,000 people treated for addiction problems in 2025, 43% were primarily dealing with alcohol dependency. Among people older than 55, that figure climbed to 60%.
Cannabis remained the leading addiction problem among younger people under 25.
The gambling figures still capture only part of the broader picture. LADIS tracks specialist treatment services rather than the total number of people struggling with addiction nationwide, and not every treatment provider reports to the system. The actual number of people receiving help for gambling problems is likely higher.
Support services say demand has continued to expand as online betting becomes more deeply woven into everyday life, particularly through mobile apps that make gambling available around the clock.
Source: dutchnews.nl
