UK Gambling Regulator Finds No Surge in Illegal Sites Despite VPN Rise After Online Safety Act

_{Gambling Commission's first significant update since november 2025. (Image: Alan Evans/Casinos.com)}

The Gambling Commission, which regulates land-based and online casinos has published its latest data on illegal gambling websites, finding no sustained growth in UK player traffic over the past 21 months, even as more players turned to VPNs following the introduction of the Online Safety Act.

The update, posted on 21 April 2026 by Tim Livesley, Head of the Commission's Data Innovation Hub, extends the regulator's trend data to February 2026. It is the first significant update since November 2025 and comes after the Commission hosted a session on illegal gambling at its Spring Evidence Conference in Birmingham, attended by representatives from industry, HMRC, and the Dutch gambling regulator.

For players in Great Britain, the data offers some reassurance that the illegal market has not dramatically expanded, but it also raises questions about how many people are quietly bypassing restrictions using privacy tools, and whether current enforcement is keeping pace.

What the Data Shows

The Commission measures consumer engagement with illegal gambling sites using estimated web traffic data, specifically total minutes spent on illegal sites. Its trendline through to February 2026 shows fluctuating activity with no clear seasonal pattern and no consistent upward trajectory.

Livesley noted that an increase seen in autumn 2024 was not repeated in the same period of 2025, suggesting the earlier spike was not a sign of structural growth in the illegal market.

The Commission has been applying a 30% uplift to its figures to account for traffic hidden by VPNs, a limitation the regulator has acknowledged since its first publication. However, the Online Safety Act, which came into force in the relevant period, prompted a sharp rise in VPN adoption among UK internet users more broadly, meaning that uplift figure needed revisiting.

The VPN Problem

Using data from Ofcom and web analytics firm Similarweb, the Commission found that VPN usage spiked sharply in July 2025, before declining to a level still around 40% above pre-Act levels. The two data sources broadly agreed on the trend, though Similarweb showed a less dramatic initial spike.

The Commission has now adjusted its trendline to reflect two scenarios based on those findings. The revised figures carry a wider confidence interval around July 2025, reflecting genuine uncertainty about how much traffic may have been obscured at that point.

Livesley said the regulator remains cautious about treating any single data source as definitive, given how many ways players can access illegal sites without appearing in web traffic estimates.

The Commission says it is working with international regulators and licensed operators to improve its data and identify additional sources. It is also gathering consumer data through the Gambling Survey for Great Britain and its Consumer Voice research programme. Further updates on enforcement activity and how it is measuring the impact of increased investment are expected later in 2026.