Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the value of stakes that may be placed by UK consumers with illegal gambling operators during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

We are committed to taking action on the illegal gambling market. In the past year, we have established the Illegal Gambling Taskforce, which includes working with payment providers to help tackle the issue of payments relating to illegal gambling. We plan to report on the progress made by the Illegal Gambling Taskforce once it has completed its first year.

Estimating the size of the illegal market is made more difficult due to the changing nature of sites and channels through which customers are able to access illegal activity. The Gambling Commission is working to improve its evidence base around the illegal market. Last year the Commission was allocated an additional £26 million over the next three years to further tackle illegal gambling. We will continue to monitor any reports or findings regarding the prevalence of illegal gambling, including during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The government published details of behavioural costings assumptions relating to the gambling duty changes at Budget 2025. These assumptions capture the impact of an overall reduction in demand as a result of higher duty rates. The Office for Budget Responsibility also published details in their November 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.