Information current as of 9 October 2026. The Balkans do not form a single iGaming market. The same region combines licensed online casinos, state rights over particular games, restricted concession systems, preparations to open online betting and a statutory gambling ban. Differences also concern advertising, affiliation, player identification and the publication of data.
This report covers 11 markets: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. This is an editorial scope that also includes countries only partly considered geographically Balkan. The reference points are regulatory announcements, government portals and official legal publications available when the article was prepared.
The most interesting change in 2026 is taking place where digitalisation meets oversight. In some countries, public receipts associated with online gambling are rising. At the same time, administrations are defining more precisely who may operate, how activities may be promoted and what information must be provided to supervisory authorities. For the industry, this means assessing every country individually.
The region’s most important signals
- Serbia already provides receipts and authorisation figures as of 30 September 2026; Montenegro published nine-month results on 8 October.
- Croatia has tightened marketing rules, while Bulgaria introduced a new type of licence concerning affiliates in August 2026.
- North Macedonia adopted a new law in June 2026 and is developing implementing rules on the credibility of applicants.
- Albania prepared a regulatory package for online sports betting, but its current register still reports no licensed entities in that category.
- Kosovo remains a separate case: the starting point is a law banning gambling, rather than an open online licensing system.
How to read the figures without drawing misleading conclusions
GGR, stakes and public receipts describe different things. GGR generally means stakes minus winnings paid. Stake turnover can be much larger because the same funds may be used repeatedly in play. Taxes and fees also depend on tax rates, fixed charges, payment deadlines and collection effectiveness.
We therefore do not add Serbian dinars to Montenegro’s euro receipts and present the result as the value of Balkan iGaming. Nine-month data are not a forecast for the full year either. Every figure below is tied to a country, period and indicator type. A lack of comparable data is not replaced with an unverified estimate.
Rising internet-related receipts are an important signal for administrations and the sector. On their own, however, they do not establish how much player numbers, spending or operator profitability have increased. Those questions require additional data.
Serbia: fresh figures, but these are fee receipts
Serbia’s Uprava za igre na sreću reports that by 30 September 2026, total budget receipts from gambling fees had reached RSD 24.11 billion. On that date, it recorded 25 authorisations for gambling through electronic communication, compared with 26 at the end of 2025. An authorisation is not equivalent to an individual brand or a count of active customers.
The most complete comparison for the online segment concerns 2024-2025. Fees attributed to gambling through electronic communication rose from RSD 6.405 billion to RSD 9.778 billion, an increase of 52.66%. That is growth in fee receipts, rather than a confirmed increase in market GGR by the same percentage.
Serbia therefore provides a strong fiscal signal concerning online gambling while demonstrating why analysis should use the regulator’s definitions. Total receipts for the first three quarters of 2026 should not be presented as online casino revenue alone.
Source: Uprava za igre na sreću - statistical data.
Montenegro: an announcement published the day before this report
According to the Uprava za igre na sreću announcement of 8 October 2026, the authority received EUR 38.77 million in the first nine months of the year, 24.36% more than a year earlier. Internet gambling accounted for EUR 15.80 million, an increase of 38.62%.
These are receipts reported by the administration in the context of collecting statutory payments. They do not describe total stake turnover or operator GGR. The regulator also links the improvement to supervision, the information system and more effective collection of liabilities. The amounts do not establish an identical increase in player activity.
The practical observation is nevertheless clear: the internet contributes a significant share of receipts in the country, and digital supervision features prominently in administrative communication. Montenegro is a good example of a market where financial analysis should be accompanied by an assessment of reporting obligations.
Source: Uprava za igre na sreću - January-September 2026 results.
Croatia: how audiences are reached also matters
Croatia’s tax administration describes amendments effective from 1 May 2025 alongside provisions whose application was deferred until 1 January 2026. This is an important distinction: adoption of the reform was not the only implementation date for all obligations.
The official explanation identifies, among other measures, a ban on gambling advertising on the internet, in audiovisual and radio programmes and in electronic publications between 06:00 and 23:00, as well as restrictions concerning influencers. It separately describes a prohibition on placing links to operator websites in new electronic publication content. Identity verification and checking the register of excluded persons form another part of the reform.
The implication for the market extends beyond a single banner. An operator’s legal activity and the permissible distribution of promotional material require separate assessments. Croatia shows that a marketing model effective in one country may need fundamental changes in another.
Source: Porezna uprava - explanation of regulatory changes, 30 December 2025.
Bulgaria: affiliation gains its own licensing requirement
Bulgaria’s National Revenue Agency, NRA, announced a new type of licence for activities promoting gambling, effective from 1 August 2026. The announcement explicitly states that the new regime concerns affiliate operators. The agency also published an application form.
This is one of the newest changes in the report. For businesses acquiring traffic, it means that checking the advertised operator’s licence does not complete the assessment of their own obligations. The promoting entity may itself face a separate requirement.
This does not automatically open new game categories or grant a licence to every affiliate. The announcement describes a change to the rules governing a particular activity. Business analysis needs to account for the time and documentation required to obtain the appropriate permission.
Source: NRA - new licence for promotional activity from 1 August 2026.
North Macedonia: a new law and scrutiny of capital origins
The Ministry of Finance confirmed adoption of a new gambling law in June 2026. Its description of the reform states that lottery games, with a specified exception, electronic games and internet games are a state right exercised through a state-owned enterprise. This does not describe an open private licensing model for all online games.
The reform also includes reputation and integrity criteria, advertising restrictions and measures strengthening technical supervision. On 17 August 2026, the ministry announced a rulebook detailing documentation on reputation and the origin of funds. The scrutiny includes the ability to trace capital flows from their source to their payment into the company.
Our editorial conclusion: assessing this market requires reading the new law together with its implementing provisions. Older descriptions of Macedonian iGaming may omit fundamental elements of the 2026 reform.
Sources: Ministry of Finance - adoption of the new law and reputation and integrity rules.
Albania: an online betting framework is not a list of operating businesses
The current Albanian AMLF page on online sports betting states that there are not yet any licensed entities in this category. The regulator explains that legal amendments in 2024 restored the category; the framework provides for up to 10 entities, with licences lasting 10 years. The list is to be updated after licences are approved.
At the same time, AMLF presents a 2026 regulatory package: a register of persons prohibited from access, technical system standards, licensing competition rules, and procedures for suspending and revoking licences. This is concrete regulatory infrastructure, but its existence does not prove that licensing has been completed.
The most important distinction is between online sports betting and a general online casino offering. Albania should not simply be described as a fully open online market. According to the register checked for this report, the prepared framework had not yet translated into an approved list of betting operators.
Sources: AMLF - online sports betting and licensing status and implementing legislation package.
Kosovo: a different starting point from its neighbours
Law 06/L-155, published in the official gazette on 24 April 2019, prohibits and requires the closure of all gambling throughout Kosovo. It also repeals the previous gambling law and the implementing acts issued under it.
This report therefore does not treat Kosovo as an ordinary licensed iGaming market. A foreign website being accessible in a browser does not prove local authorisation. This case shows particularly clearly why a regional strategy cannot rely solely on similarities in language, sporting interests or payment infrastructure.
Source: Official Gazette of Kosovo - Law 06/L-155.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: the relevant legal territory must be specified
Describing Bosnia and Herzegovina requires separating its regulatory regimes. The law published by the tax administration of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina regulates internet gambling and the role of the Federal Ministry of Finance. It also provides prohibitions concerning activity and advertising without the appropriate permission.
In Republika Srpska, supervision is carried out by a separate Republic Administration for Games of Chance within the local Ministry of Finance. Its official description of responsibilities includes authorisations, technical and information requirements, and inspections. Brčko District should likewise not automatically be equated with either of these territories.
The report does not assign one tax rate or one aggregate GGR figure to the entire country. The first question is the jurisdiction of the particular territory and authority. Only then can products, taxes, available permissions and technical obligations be compared. This is a significant limitation of any simplified “map of Balkan markets”.
Sources: PU FBiH - gambling law and Government of Republika Srpska - supervisory administration responsibilities.
Slovenia: concessions and nationwide self-exclusion
Slovenia’s government portal describes a concession-based system and publishes a separate register of online casino concession holders. The financial administration, FURS, is responsible for supervision. The presence of a foreign brand should not be equated with Slovenian authorisation.
FURS also describes self-exclusion applying throughout the country, available for casinos, gaming halls and internet gambling. The period ranges from six months to three years. The authority also identifies a court procedure for restricting access to websites offering gambling without the required concession.
Authorisation registers and player protection mechanisms are therefore important to a market assessment. Slovenia is a reminder that a digital channel does not remove local concession rules. Analysis should check the precise scope of a permission rather than simply the fact that a product operates online.
Sources: GOV.SI - gambling and registers and FURS - supervision and responsible gambling provision.
Greece: separate licences for betting, other games and affiliation
The Hellenic Gaming Commission distinguishes two licence categories for online services offered to players: Type 1 covers online betting, and Type 2 covers other online games, including casino, live casino and poker. Holding the appropriate licence is a condition for legally providing these services in Greece.
The regulator separately describes permissions for technology providers and affiliates. An entity promoting games in cooperation with a licensed operator must obtain the appropriate permission and be included in the affiliate register. The entire service chain therefore cannot be treated as covered by one operator licence.
Our editorial conclusion: Greece makes the division of responsibilities between operators, suppliers and traffic acquisition businesses particularly clear. For a company operating in several countries, compliance must address its own role in that chain, as well as its business partner’s status.
Sources: HGC - online B2C licences and HGC - licence categories, including affiliation.
Romania: player protection also requires an effective procedure
Romania’s ONJN publishes registers and information concerning licences, authorisations and unauthorised services. Technical regulations and player account rules also matter for internet services. Referring to a foreign licence is insufficient without establishing local authorisation.
For player protection, a concrete reference is ONJN Order No. 79 of 13 June 2025 and the attached self-exclusion procedure, published on 17 June 2025. The document specifies the submission and processing of requests, organisers’ access to the database and verification of a person before a gambling session begins.
Remote gambling rules also require product terms to describe self-exclusion and access interruption procedures. The market implication is that an interface feature, the handling procedure and obligations to the regulator should work together. Merely using the phrase “responsible gambling” does not describe the quality of that process.
Sources: ONJN - regulatory information, official self-exclusion procedure and remote gambling rules.
What the comparison of 11 markets reveals
The first editorial conclusion concerns market access. There is no single Balkan route to entry. The appropriate product, licence, concession or state right to organise games is the starting point. Permission for betting should not automatically be extended to online casino games.
The second concerns marketing. Affiliation and advertising have become more than growth tools. In the systems examined, they can be separate areas of permissions and restrictions. Publishers, partner networks and technology businesses therefore need to identify their own role, the channel they use and local communication rules.
The third concerns data. More recent administrative announcements improve transparency but do not resolve comparability problems. A sector report should clearly state whether it describes GGR, stakes, fees, taxes or authorisation numbers. Otherwise, an impressive chart may imply a relationship that the data do not support.
Future updates should monitor licences actually issued in Albania, implementation of the Macedonian reform, the operation of Bulgaria’s new affiliate regime and full-year 2026 figures from markets publishing receipts. These are concrete points to check, rather than a predetermined growth forecast.
The most useful picture of the Balkans today is a set of national rules and clearly described indicators. For an industry reader, the advantage lies in knowing what has actually been permitted, implemented and measured - and where information still needs another update.
Readers' voices
Add your perspective, relevant context or a question about this story.
No one has commented on this material yet. You can be the first.