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Gambling in Austria: Statistics & Trends (2026)
Austria is a small, wealthy country with a long gambling tradition — from the historic casino at Baden bei Wien to the weekly Lotto "6 aus 45" draw that has run since 1986 — yet its modern market is defined by one unusual fact: a state-protected monopoly. A single group, Casinos Austria and its Österreichische Lotterien subsidiary, holds the only licences for lotteries, land-based casinos and legal online gambling (the win2day platform). That monopoly is the engine behind the country's most distinctive trend: a flood of lawsuits in which Austrians sue offshore online casinos to reclaim their losses, with courts repeatedly siding with the players.
This page is a full statistical profile of gambling in Austria: how much Austrians lose and on what, who plays, the dominant role of lotteries and slot machines (Automaten), the win2day online monopoly versus the large grey market, problem-gambling and harm figures, the demographics of online play, the loss-reclaim litigation wave, and the 2025–26 tax and regulatory changes. Primary sources include the Casinos Austria / Österreichische Lotterien group accounts, Austria's Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF), the Austrian representative gambling surveys (Kalke et al.), H2 Gambling Capital via Statista, the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and Statista market forecasts. Every figure is dated to its source year.
Key takeaways
- Austrians lose an estimated ~US$410 per adult per year to gambling, placing the country in the mid-to-upper band of European nations on the H2 Gambling Capital / Statista per-adult ranking.
- The Casinos Austria and Österreichische Lotterien group — the legal monopoly — reported consolidated gross gaming revenue (player losses) of €1.48 billion in FY2023, up 4.5%, of which €946.8 million came from lotteries and €304.5 million from its 12 land-based casinos.
- Lotteries are by far the biggest segment — Lotto, EuroMillionen, scratch cards and the rest make up roughly two-thirds of monopoly revenue. Slot machines (Automaten), casinos and sports betting fill out the rest.
- win2day, run by Österreichische Lotterien, is the only legally licensed online casino and poker site in Austria — yet an estimated ~70% of online gambling flows through Malta- and offshore-licensed sites that operate without an Austrian licence.
- Austria's online gambling market was about €632 million in 2024 and is forecast to reach ~€777 million by 2029 (4.2% CAGR) — Statista.
- About 41% of Austrian adults gambled at least once in the past year and 27% at least monthly, per the 2015 representative survey; the problem-gambling prevalence was ~1.1%, in the lower third of Europe.
- Roughly 64,000 Austrians are flagged as problem gamblers and barred from official casinos; more than three-quarters of gambling addicts are in debt.
- The Austrian Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that contracts with unlicensed online operators are void, letting players reclaim their losses — including a €2.8 million refund from bet-at-home in August 2024 — and a January 2026 CJEU ruling lets EU players sue under their home-country law.
- From 2025, Austria raised its sports-betting tax from 2% to 5% and its online gambling tax from 40% to 45%, targeting gambling revenue of up to €240 million by 2031.
- Online players skew young and male: about 82% male, with roughly 70% aged 18–39 and about half in their twenties.
GGR (Gross Gaming Revenue / Bruttospielertrag): the amount operators keep after paying out winnings — i.e. the net amount players lose. It is the standard measure of a gambling market's size. win2day is the brand name of Österreichische Lotterien's legal online platform (casino, poker, lottery and sports). Automaten is the German term for gambling slot machines; the so-called "small gambling" (kleines Glücksspiel) on these machines has been banned in several Austrian states.
How much do Austrians lose to gambling each year?
Austrians lose an estimated ~US$410 per adult per year to gambling, according to H2 Gambling Capital figures published via Statista. That puts Austria in the mid-to-upper band of developed nations — well below the world leaders Australia (over US$1,000 per adult) and Singapore, but comparable to other wealthy European countries such as Spain (~US$418) and Greece (~US$420). It is a meaningful sum: across roughly 7.4 million adults, it implies total annual player losses in the low billions of euros.
The cleanest hard number on the legal market is the group account of the monopoly itself. The Casinos Austria and Österreichische Lotterien group reported consolidated gross gaming revenue — player losses on its products — of €1.48 billion in FY2023, up 4.49% year-on-year, with a net result of €182.9 million and over €724 million paid in gambling taxes and duties, making the group one of Austria's largest taxpayers (Casinos Austria press release, March 2024). That €1.48 billion captures the legal monopoly only — it excludes the large grey market of offshore online play (see below), which is why the true national loss figure is higher.
Why the per-adult figure and the monopoly figure differ: The ~US$410-per-adult estimate from H2 Gambling Capital attempts to capture all gambling losses in Austria, including offshore online play and machine gambling outside the Casinos Austria group. The €1.48 billion group GGR captures only the legally licensed monopoly. The gap between them is largely the unlicensed grey market.
Why is Austria a gambling monopoly — and who runs it?
Under Austria's Games of Chance Act (Glücksspielgesetz), most gambling is a federal monopoly. A single concession for lotteries and online gambling, and a limited number of casino concessions (currently 12 land-based casinos), are all held by the Casinos Austria / Österreichische Lotterien group. Österreichische Lotterien runs the lotteries and the win2day online platform — the only legally licensed online casino, poker and lottery site in the country. Sports betting is regulated separately at the state (Bundesländer) level and is more open, which is why brands like bwin, Tipico and Admiral operate retail and online sportsbooks in Austria.
Casinos Austria / Österreichische Lotterien group GGR by segment, FY2023
- Lotteries (Lotto, EuroMillionen, scratch, win2day) — €946.8M (64%)
- Casinos Austria (12 domestic casinos) — €304.5M (21%)
- Casinos Austria International (foreign ops) — €212.1M (14%)
The monopoly is also why Austria's gambling story is so litigious. Because only win2day is licensed online, every other online casino a Austrian plays at is — in the eyes of Austrian courts — operating illegally, which is the legal hook for the loss-reclaim lawsuits covered below.
What do Austrians actually play?
Austrian gambling is dominated by lotteries. The flagship Lotto "6 aus 45" (drawn since 1986), plus EuroMillionen, ToiToiToi and Brieflos scratch tickets, make up roughly two-thirds of the legal monopoly's revenue — €946.8 million of the €1.48 billion group GGR in FY2023. Lotto is a mass-market, low-stakes habit: a large share of Austrian adults buy a ticket at least occasionally, which is why participation rates are high even though average spend is modest.
After lotteries come the higher-intensity products: land-based casinos (€304.5 million GGR in 2023 across the 12 Casinos Austria venues, offering roulette, blackjack and slots), slot machines / Automaten in the states that still permit them, sports betting (a separate, more competitive market estimated in the low hundreds of millions of euros), and the fast-growing online casino segment split between the legal win2day and the offshore grey market.
Approximate Austrian legal market by segment (illustrative scale, € millions)
Sources: Casinos Austria / Österreichische Lotterien FY2023 (lotteries €946.8M, casinos €304.5M); Statista market data for online and sports-betting segments (figures around €283–284M, earlier-year basis). Bars show relative scale, not a single-year audited split.
What happened to slot machines (Automaten) in Austria?
Outside casinos, Austria's machine gambling — the so-called "small gambling" (kleines Glücksspiel) on neighbourhood slot machines — has been progressively banned at the state level. Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg outlawed it first; Vienna banned small gambling from the start of 2015, when about 2,500 previously licensed machines lost their legal basis overnight. Vienna's city council had passed a phase-out resolution back in 2011, with city councillor Ulli Sima a leading figure behind the ban.
Side note — the ban that didn't shrink the market: Despite Vienna's Automaten ban, the overall Austrian gambling market kept growing. Some demand simply migrated — into licensed casino venues, into online play, and into illegal machines that authorities have had to chase. The episode is a recurring theme in Austrian gambling policy: bans move where people gamble more than how much.
How many Austrians gamble — and how often?
The most rigorous participation data comes from Austria's representative gambling surveys, first run in 2009 and replicated by Kalke and colleagues in 2015 using computer-assisted telephone interviews (6,300 respondents in 2009, 10,000 in 2015). They found participation stable and high:
So roughly four in ten Austrian adults gamble in a given year — most of them on the lottery — and more than a quarter gamble at least monthly. Crucially, monthly play rose between 2009 and 2015 (from 23% to 27%) even as the headline past-year figure held steady, suggesting more regular engagement among those who do play.
Online vs land-based — and how big is the grey market?
Austria's online gambling market was about €632 million in 2024 and is forecast to grow to roughly €777 million by 2029, a compound annual growth rate of about 4.2%, with users projected to exceed 920,000 by 2029 (Statista). Within that online segment, the defining feature is the split between the single legal site and everyone else:
This is the single most important statistic about online gambling in Austria. A monopoly model means that almost any online casino an Austrian can find through a search engine — Malta-licensed brands and others — is unlicensed under Austrian law. Players use them anyway, in large numbers, which both inflates the true national loss figure above the monopoly's reported revenue and creates the legal basis for the reclaim lawsuits.
Who plays online — age, gender and Gen Z?
Austria's online players skew young and heavily male. According to market data compiled for the Austrian iGaming market, the online gambling audience is roughly 82% male and 18% female, with about 70% aged 18–39 and roughly half concentrated in the 20–29 bracket.
The Gen Z / young-adult skew: with about half of Austria's online gamblers in their twenties and seven in ten under 40, the harms of online slots and live-dealer games — the fastest-growing products — fall disproportionately on young men. Growth in the segment is explicitly driven by mobile-friendly sites and live-dealer games favoured by younger players (Statista). This is the demographic most exposed to the unlicensed grey market.
How many Austrians have a gambling problem?
The representative surveys put Austria's problem-gambling prevalence at about 1.1% of the adult population — stable between 2009 and 2015, and in the lower third of European countries. In practical terms, roughly 64,000 Austrians are identified as problem gamblers and are barred from official casinos under player-protection rules. Older expert extrapolations have estimated on the order of 20,000–36,000 "problematic" plus 28,000–46,000 "pathological" gamblers, a range broadly consistent with the ~1.1% prevalence.
The financial toll is severe for those affected: more than three-quarters of gambling addicts in Austria are in debt. That debt burden is exactly what powers the loss-reclaim litigation — many of the players suing offshore casinos are precisely those who lost more than they could afford on unlicensed sites.
Context: Austria's ~1.1% problem-gambling rate is low by international standards — comparable to or below much of Western Europe and well under the rates seen in heavy-machine-gambling markets like Australia. The monopoly's mandatory exclusion system (which feeds the ~64,000 barred figure) is one reason the regulated channel keeps the rate contained — but it only covers the licensed venues, not the offshore grey market.
The loss-reclaim lawsuit wave — why Austrians sue offshore casinos
The most distinctive trend in Austrian gambling is legal, not financial. Because only win2day is licensed online, the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) has repeatedly held that contracts between Austrian players and unlicensed offshore operators are void. Under that reasoning, the player's deposits were paid under an invalid contract — so the operator must refund the net losses. A 2021 OGH ruling cemented the principle that foreign iGaming operators are operating illegally and their player contracts are unenforceable.
This has spawned an entire litigation-funding industry: specialist firms bankroll players' claims against Malta-licensed casinos in exchange for a cut of any recovery, making it cost-free for individuals to sue. Thousands of such claims have been filed. The phenomenon has grown large enough that operators and the government now treat it as a structural feature of the Austrian market, and recent OGH and CJEU developments have only strengthened the players' hand.
- 2021 The Austrian Supreme Court (OGH) rules that foreign online gambling operators act illegally in Austria; their contracts with players are void and losses are refundable — the foundation of the reclaim wave.
- Aug 2024 OGH orders bet-at-home (via subsidiary Betclic Everest) to refund €2.8 million in losses to a single player who gambled from 2018–2020, finding the player "legally incapacitated" given a gambling problem.
- Aug 2024 In a counter-case, the OGH lets an unlicensed Malta operator reclaim part of a player's winnings — a player who deposited ~€22,000 and won €29,100 in 2020 was ordered to return €626.60 in legal costs, showing the void-contract logic can cut both ways.
- Feb 2025 The OGH (case 3 Nc 72/24d) grants an "ordination" allowing Austrian courts to enforce judgments against a Maltese bank account holding operator funds — closing an enforcement loophole.
- Jan 2026 The CJEU rules (16 January 2026) that an online-gambling player may rely on the law of their country of residence when suing — a major boost for Austrian and other EU claimants against Malta-licensed sites. One Austrian claimant in the case sought €18,547.67 in losses from 2019–2020.
Notable real cases
The €2.8 million refund (bet-at-home, Aug 2024). In a landmark ruling on 23 August 2024, the Austrian Supreme Court ordered the operator bet-at-home to refund a player roughly €2.8 million (about US$3.1 million) lost on its unlicensed online casino between 2018 and 2020. The court held that the operator's subsidiary bore liability under tort law and that the player had been "legally incapacitated" by their gambling problem while playing. It is one of the largest single player refunds in the loss-reclaim wave. (Source: GamblingNews, igamingbusiness, reporting the OGH ruling.)
When the void contract backfires (Bet365 / Malta operator, Aug 2024). The same void-contract logic that lets players reclaim losses also means operators can reclaim winnings from unlicensed play. In an August 2024 case, an Austrian player who deposited nearly €22,000 and won a total of €29,100 between May and July 2020 found the court ruling that part of the play was illegal — and ordered the player to return €626.60 toward the operator's legal fees. The case shows the monopoly's legal framework is a double-edged sword. (Source: Yogonet, igamingbusiness, reporting the OGH ruling.)
The CJEU opens the door across the EU (16 Jan 2026). In a case involving an Austrian gambler chasing €18,547.67 in losses from a Malta-licensed but Austrian-unlicensed operator, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that players can rely on the law of their country of residence when bringing a claim. The decision strengthens not just Austrian claimants but gamblers across the EU who lost money on offshore sites. (Source: CasinoBeats, reporting the CJEU ruling.)
Trends, tax and what's next for Austrian gambling
Three forces are reshaping the Austrian market into 2026 and beyond:
1. Higher taxes. From 2025 the government sharply raised gambling levies: the sports-betting tax rose from 2% to 5% (April 2025), the online gambling tax from 40% to 45% (July 2025), and VLT tax from 10% to 11%, with a new 7.5% administrative-fee levy. The state projects gambling revenue climbing from about €50 million in 2025 to as much as €240 million by 2031 (Beaumont Capital Markets summary of the reform).
2. The monopoly licence is up for renewal. The single lottery/online concession held by Österreichische Lotterien expires on 30 September 2027, with a tender process expected around 2025–26. Reform proposals include creating an independent gambling regulator, a loot-box legal framework, and payment- and internet-blocking enforcement against offshore sites — all of which could change the monopoly's shape.
3. The reclaim litigation keeps escalating. With the 2021 OGH precedent, the February 2025 enforcement ruling, and the January 2026 CJEU decision all stacking in players' favour — and litigation funders actively recruiting claimants — the legal pressure on Malta-licensed operators is intensifying. A March 2026 OGH development even opened the door to personal liability for executives of offshore operations, a further escalation.
Austria online gambling market, € millions (Statista forecast)
Source: Statista market forecast — Austria online gambling ~4.2% CAGR 2024–2029, users projected to exceed 920,000 by 2029. The legal share (win2day) is only ~30% of this; the rest is the offshore grey market.
Quick takeaway: Austria is a high-income, lottery-dominated gambling market with a state monopoly, a contained ~1.1% problem-gambling rate, and one extraordinary feature — a legal system that lets players reclaim losses from the large offshore market they aren't supposed to use. The next two years (the 2027 licence renewal, rising taxes, and ever-stronger reclaim case law) will decide whether the grey market shrinks or the monopoly opens up.
Frequently asked questions
How much do Austrians lose to gambling each year?
Austrians lose an estimated ~US$410 per adult per year (H2 Gambling Capital via Statista), placing the country in the mid-to-upper band of European nations. The legal monopoly alone — Casinos Austria and Österreichische Lotterien — booked €1.48 billion in gross gaming revenue (player losses) in FY2023, on top of which sit the losses on the large offshore online market.
What do Austrians gamble on the most?
Lotteries by a wide margin. Lotto "6 aus 45", EuroMillionen and scratch tickets generated €946.8 million — about two-thirds of the monopoly's €1.48 billion FY2023 revenue. Land-based casinos (€304.5 million), slot machines where still legal, sports betting and online casino play make up the rest.
Is online gambling legal in Austria?
Only one site is. win2day, operated by Österreichische Lotterien, is the only legally licensed online casino, poker and lottery platform. All other online casinos — typically Malta- or offshore-licensed — are unlicensed under Austrian law, even though an estimated ~70% of online play runs through them.
Can Austrians get their gambling losses back?
Often yes, if they lost money at an unlicensed offshore casino. The Austrian Supreme Court has ruled that contracts with operators lacking an Austrian licence are void, so players can sue to reclaim their net losses — a 2024 case saw bet-at-home ordered to refund €2.8 million to one player. A January 2026 CJEU ruling further lets EU players sue under their home-country law. Litigation funders bankroll many of these claims.
How many Austrians have a gambling problem?
Austria's problem-gambling prevalence is about 1.1% of adults — in the lower third of Europe. Roughly 64,000 Austrians are flagged as problem gamblers and barred from official casinos, and more than three-quarters of gambling addicts are in debt.
Who gambles online in Austria?
Mostly young men. The online audience is roughly 82% male, with about 70% aged 18–39 and around half in their twenties. Online users are projected to exceed 920,000 by 2029 as mobile and live-dealer play grows.
Why is gambling a monopoly in Austria?
Under the Glücksspielgesetz, lotteries, casinos and legal online gambling are a federal monopoly held by the Casinos Austria / Österreichische Lotterien group, justified on player-protection and tax grounds. The single concession expires on 30 September 2027, with a tender and possible reforms — including an independent regulator — expected around then.
Sources
- Casinos Austria / Österreichische Lotterien — FY2023 group results (€1.48bn GGR, €724m tax)
- iGaming Business — Lottery leads as Casinos Austria GGR hits €1.48bn FY23 (segment breakdown)
- Österreichische Lotterien — Key Figures
- Statista / H2 Gambling Capital — Gambling losses per adult by country
- Statista — Online Gambling, Austria (market forecast, €632m 2024 → €777m 2029)
- Statista — Glücksspiel in Österreich (market overview)
- iGaming Today — Austria iGaming market report (grey-market share, demographics)
- Frontiers in Psychology — Austrian Representative Survey 2015 (Kalke et al.; participation & problem gambling)
- Kalke et al. — Glücksspielverhalten der österreichischen Bevölkerung 2009 & 2015
- GamblingNews — Austrian court orders bet-at-home to refund player €2.8M (Aug 2024)
- iGaming Business — Bet-at-home faces €2.8m Austria player-losses payout
- Yogonet — OGH orders gambler to return partial winnings to unlicensed operator
- CasinoBeats — CJEU ruling lets European gamblers reclaim offshore losses (Jan 2026)
- Beaumont Capital Markets — Austria online gambling: 2025 reforms, litigation, tax changes
- ICLG — Gambling Laws & Regulations Report 2026: Austria (problem gambling, monopoly)
- Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) — Regulation of games of chance
- VIENNA.AT — Vienna Automaten ban (2015) and market growth
- Tribuna — Austria top court allows personal liability for offshore-operator executives (Mar 2026)
See also: Is Gambling Legal in Austria? Laws & 2026 Updates.