Source: GGL (Germany)
Germany’s state gambling authorities said the market generated €10,119 million in gross gaming revenue in 2021, with permitted gambling accounting for about 93%. The report said total market volume fell 13% from 2020, while sports betting represented 13.2% of the 2021 market.
The figures give operators and regulators a measure of Germany’s permitted and unpermitted gambling market in 2021.
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Germany’s GGL hosted European gambling regulators in Halle on 4 November 2026 and signed a joint declaration with the UK Gambling Commission. The authorities plan to deepen cooperation and establish structured information sharing; a pilot exchange on illegal gambling websites is a longer-term proposal.
Germany's GGL hosted the European Regulators Roundtable in Halle on 4 November 2026. The GGL and the UK Gambling Commission signed a joint declaration of intent at the meeting, the GGL said. Both authorities intend to deepen their cooperation and set up a structured exchange of information.
Germany’s GGL is reportedly replacing its decision guideline on 1 January 2027, requiring operators to verify income or assets for monthly deposit limits above €1,000. A German court had found SCHUFA-G unsuitable as proof of financial capacity, while the higher court left its applicability unresolved; the reported new model sets tiered verification requirements.
Germany's Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL) is reported to be replacing its decision guideline under section 6c (1) sentence 3 of the GlüStV 2021 with effect from 1 January 2027, according to information available. Under the reported model, operators granting a monthly deposit limit above €1,000 would have to have income or assets verified. The reported change follows a ruling by the Verwaltungsgericht Halle, which found the SCHUFA-G credit check unsuitable as proof of financial capacity because it only reflects the probability of over-indebtedness, in a decision of 6 August 2026 (7 B 491/25 HAL).
The Higher Administrative Court of Saxony-Anhalt ruled in decisions dated 21 October 2026 that a ban on an unlicensed online casino offer in Germany could remain enforceable. The court rejected the operator's application, while leaving open whether the GGL's SCHUFA-G practice for raising deposit limits constituted an enforcement deficit.
The Higher Administrative Court of Saxony-Anhalt ruled in two decisions dated 21 October 2026 that a ban on an unlicensed online casino offer in Germany can remain enforceable, and that a €50,000 coercive fine imposed over the offer can also be enforced. The court rejected the operator's application in the first case (3 M 61/26) and changed the Halle Administrative Court's suspension order in the second (3 M 62/26). The court left open whether the GGL's SCHUFA-G practice for raising deposit limits amounts to an enforcement deficit.
Germany's GGL supervisory board is due to meet on 18 November to try to agree a replacement for expiring rules that allow online deposit limits to rise above €1,000 a month, experts said at a Gaming in Germany webinar on 21 October. The current regime, which permits increases to €10,000 or €30,000, lapses at the end of the year.
The supervisory board of Germany's Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL) is due to meet on 18 November to try to agree a replacement for deposit-limit rules that lapse at the end of the year, according to discussion at a Gaming in Germany webinar on 21 October. The board has so far been unable to reach agreement, the webinar heard.
Lotto Hessen management spokesperson Martin Blach said Germany needs consistent enforcement against illegal gambling, in an interview. He said the GGL estimates the online black market at around 23%, while other studies put it above 50%. Investigators suspect five people offered online gambling commercially and as a group from July 2021; stakes for July 2021 to the end of 2023 allegedly totalled €5.8bn.
Martin Blach, spokesperson for the management of Lotto Hessen, said Germany needs consistent enforcement against illegal gambling, in an interview with games & business reported on 16 October 2026. Blach said a state treaty on gambling is of little use if the state does not act against illegal play, according to the report.