New data from the Department of Internal Affairs puts annual online gambling spend at NZ$1.36 billion. The estimate is based on consumer card transactions from one bank, upweighted by DOT Loves Data to estimate the wider market for October 2023 to September 2025.
The report does not include Lotto NZ or TAB New Zealand. It looks at offshore online casinos, sports betting, race betting, and overseas lottery products.
Licensing Process To Begin in 2026
The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 has already been enacted, but licensed casinos will not pop up instantly. Officials plan to begin the licensing process in July 2026. A licence auction is expected in September, with formal applications due in October.
Online gambling spend has exceeded NZ$100 million per month since March 2024. As of September 2025, around 360,000 customers participated in online gambling in the market.
A small group of operators controls most of the spend. The 15 largest merchants took as much as 82.5% of total market expenditure. Operators based in Cyprus, Gibraltar, Great Britain, and Malta captured 96.3% of market spend.
That leaves New Zealand with a familiar regulatory problem. The country’s residents already gamble online, but a significant number of companies receiving their money operate outside the domestic jurisdiction. This issue is likely to be addressed by the new licensing scheme.
Casino Spend Surges Ahead
The growth of online casinos was significantly higher than any other category in the study period. Standalone online casino spend rose 38% year on year. Operators that provided multiple gambling services saw a growth of 22%.
The opposite picture could be seen for the sport bets segment. The total spend here fell by 37%. Transactions and customer numbers also declined.
The split makes the reform more focused. The new regime targets only online casinos, but not the entire market for online gambling. There will be up to 15 licenses available, each for a certain brand.
Harm Data Adds Political Pressure
Social risks have also been brought out by the report. The most deprived 40% of the New Zealand population accounted for more than 50% of the total amount of online gambling spend. On the other hand, the wealthiest 20% accounted for 14.9%.
This could influence the final policy on advertising, monitoring, and protection. Current rules bar online casino advertisements in New Zealand throughout the transition period. Compliance will also be considered among those who seek licences.
New Zealand appears to be trying to regulate the existing demand. The test case for this will be whether a capped licence model could get gamblers into supervised sites without leaving too much activity with offshore operators outside the system.
