Dutch councillor pushes for higher gambling age limit nationwide

(AsiaGameHub) –   The appeal put forward by CDA councillors goes beyond the prior government proposals.

The Netherlands.—It has been more than a year since the former state secretary for legal protection Teun Struycken put forward a proposal to raise the minimum age for online slot machines in the Netherlands. Now that Claudia van Bruggen holds this position following the formation of a new coalition government in February, the future of the proposed gambling reforms remains uncertain.

Nevertheless, a local councillor from the Christian Democratic Party (CDA) has revived the idea of adjusting the gambling age limit, and this push goes further than the earlier proposal. Whereas Struycken’s plan was to lift the legal age for online slot machines from 18 to 21, Meryam Sümer, who represents Enschede, is calling for the age to be raised to 24 for all gambling products.

Sümer, who works in the welfare sector, noted that stricter restrictions on gambling advertising and buy‑now‑pay‑later (BNPL) schemes are also urgently needed amid rising debt among young people. Municipal data reveals that one in five young people in Enschede is currently carrying debt. In 2025 alone, the city recorded 12,145 cases of problematic debt, including 960 instances where residents faced the risk of eviction or losing access to essential utilities. Sümer has cited easy access to credit and online gambling as key contributing factors.

Could the Netherlands increase its legal gambling age?

Setting such a high minimum gambling age would position the Netherlands as an outlier across Europe. Neighboring Belgium raised the legal gambling age from 18 to 21 in 2024. Greece and Lithuania have also increased their age restrictions to 21. Malta still maintains a minimum age of 25 for domestic citizens entering land-based casinos, a rule also in place in Georgia.

When Struycken first put forward the proposal to raise the age limit for online slots, the Dutch gambling regulator KSA criticized the plan, arguing that it could drive young people toward unlicensed operators. During the parliamentary debate that took place in March 2025, Struycken proposed a phased implementation strategy to prevent players from turning to the black market. Nevertheless, Christian Union leader Mirjam Bikker raised worries that setting different age limits for specific gambling products could lead to confusion, and instead advocated for a uniform minimum age of 21 across all types of gambling.

Sümer is now encouraging her fellow councillors and political parties to push for legislative reform. As youth debt continues to climb and gambling advertisements still reach vulnerable age groups, she maintains that more robust national safeguards are necessary.

When it comes to advertising, the Netherlands implemented a ban on all untargeted gambling advertisements in July 2023, and followed this up with a ban on sports sponsorships starting at the beginning of last year. Existing regulations already ban marketing targeted at individuals aged under 24.

Nevertheless, a recent study conducted by the City University of Hong Kong and the University of Bristol discovered that 31 out of 277 advertisements on Meta platforms (11.2 percent) targeted users between the ages of 18 and 23. Land-based gambling operations were found to have lower compliance rates, and Meta’s default age settings were identified as a partial contributing factor. The study’s academics recommended that the Netherlands introduce regulations mandating the pre-approval of gambling advertisements.