Greece's Regulated Gambling Market Hits €1.558bn GGR In H1 2026
Greece's regulated gambling market generated €1.558 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR) in the first half of 2026, an 8% increase on the same period last year, with online gambling responsible for almost all of the growth.
The Hellenic Gaming Commission (HGC) presented the figures on October 6 at a briefing attended by Minister of National Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis, shortly after new legislation strengthening the regulator's powers was passed.
State revenue from gambling climbed 14.4% year-on-year to €627.3 million, up from €548.3 million in the first half of 2025.
Online Gambling Drove 88% Of Market's Growth
Online gambling revenue rose 18.7% to €647.2 million, while land-based revenue grew just 1.6% to €910.6 million.
Of the roughly €116 million added to the market in the period, €102.1 million came from online operators and €13.9 million from land-based venues, meaning online casinos and gambling accounted for about 88% of total GGR growth.
Online's share of the overall market rose to 41.5%, from 37.8% a year earlier, while land-based gambling's share slipped to 58.5%.
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The result builds on a strong 2025, when Greece's regulated market generated €3.07 billion in GGR for the full year.
The H1 2026 result follows a year in which Greece's licensed market has steadily shifted online: online betting sites and operators now account for more than four in ten euros of regulated GGR, up from roughly a third just two years ago, while land-based venues post only modest single-digit growth.
The commission's new legislation, passed shortly before the briefing, expands its enforcement powers alongside the AI monitoring tool, giving HGC more direct tools to act on the illegal-operator cases it is already investigating.
Regulator Leans On New AI Tool
At the same briefing, the HGC showcased a new AI-powered platform designed to automatically identify, assess and document websites suspected of offering or promoting unlicensed gambling to Greek consumers, intended to help the regulator build evidence and act more quickly against illegal operators.
Pierrakakis told attendees that enforcement outcomes, not just legislation, would determine the new framework's success, and said 18 individuals were currently under investigation for promoting illegal online gambling, including through social media.
For background on how Greece licenses and taxes online gambling operators, see gambling.com's responsible gambling resource hub.
