Crime statistics: Illegal gambling at record level

For the second year in a row, the number of cases of illegal gambling in the police crime statistics (PKS) has risen significantly. In 2024, the police recorded a total of exactly 6,247 cases of illegal gambling in accordance with Sections 284, 285 and 287 of the German Criminal Code (StGB). But why is it that the number of cases also rose significantly last year?

Almost exactly a year ago, we at GambleJoe reported that police statistics showed a significant increase in the number of cases in the offense area of "illegal gambling". This trend has apparently continued in 2024, with the current PKS reporting 6,247 such cases. Compared to 2023, this figure represents an increase of 18.3%.

Cases of illegal gambling up by almost a fifth - what are the reasons?

In the space of a year, the number of illegal gambling offenses recorded by the police rose by almost a fifth. In the previous year, the increase in cases was even higher, rising by over 180%. The following list shows how the number of cases has developed in detail in recent years:

• 2017: 504 cases
• 2018: 832 cases
• 2019: 947 cases
• 2020: 762 cases
• 2021: 1,907 cases
• 2022: 1,861 cases
• 2022: 5,281 cases
• 2023: 6,247 cases

Georg Stecker, CEO of the German vending machine industry, has already publicly discussed the reasons for the significant increase in the number of cases. He assumes that people switch to illegal offers if the legal offer is not attractive enough. He made the following specific comments in a statement:

"The figures speak a clear language: if there is not a sufficient and up-to-date legal supply, people will switch to the illegal market. Politicians must not ignore this reality (...)".

Anyone wishing to effectively combat the illegal gambling market must therefore guarantee an attractive legal offering. The closure of many legal gambling halls in the cities has led to people who want to gamble (having to) switch more and more frequently to illegal offers.

At 98.1%, the clearance rate for illegal gambling offenses was also high in 2024. However, according to the PKS, a case is already solved when a suspect is identified and recorded by the police. A conviction is not decisive for this. Back in May 2018, we reported on GambleJoe that gambling-related crimes in Germany were on the decline.

Conclusion

Illegal gambling continues to be a major problem in Germany. In 2024, there were over 6,200 crimes recorded by the police in this area, although the number of unreported cases is likely to be much higher. Since 2020, the number of cases has even increased eightfold. It is to be expected that the number of cases involving illegal gambling in Germany will be at least as high this year.

Source of the image: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/polizei-pistole-mission-7066596/