Online gambling in Croatia: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Croatia?

The Games of Chance Act (Zakon o igrama na sreću) reserves lotteries for the state-owned Hrvatska Lutrija and lets the Government grant companies seated in Croatia the right to organize casino games and betting for 15 years. The amendment NN 72/2025, in force since 1 May 2025, set annual fees of EUR 600,000 for online casino and EUR 400,000 for online betting, introduced a tiered 10–30% tax on winnings, imposed a 6 am to 11 pm online and broadcast advertising curfew plus print and outdoor bans, and created a Register of Excluded Players every licensee must query. Betting is taxed at 5% of stakes and casino games at 15% of GGR.

Regulated: Private operators can hold a local licence for online casino and/or betting.

Who regulates gambling in Croatia?

• Ministarstvo financija (Ministry of Finance), Sector for Games of Chance (MFIN) — Prepares Government decisions granting the right to organize games, approves online operations, game rules and technical systems
• Porezna uprava (Tax Administration) (PU) — Supervises operators, runs the real-time monitoring connection, collects gambling fees and taxes, enforces against unlicensed sites
• Hrvatski zavod za javno zdravstvo (Croatian Institute of Public Health) (HZJZ) — Operates the Register of Excluded Players (RII) that licensees must check before allowing play

Croatia gambling licence: how it works

Private operators obtain the right to organize casino games or betting by Government decision for 15 years; rights are limited in number and awarded in rounds, most recently for betting in October 2025 when six companies, two of them new entrants, received rights. The holder must be a company seated in Croatia with the prescribed share capital and a bank guarantee, EUR 398,168.43 for online casino. To go online it obtains a separate Ministry of Finance approval, connects to the Ministry's information system, certifies its platform and games, and implements player identification and the exclusion-register interface. Online casino and online betting each carry their own annual fee.

What an applicant needs

• Company seated in Croatia holding a Government-granted right to organize casino games or betting (15-year term)
• Prescribed share capital and a continuous bank guarantee (EUR 398,168.43 for online casino games)
• Ministry of Finance approval for online operation and direct connection to the Ministry's information system
• Laboratory certification of the platform and games
• Player identification before play and real-time checks against the Register of Excluded Players by OIB (personal identification number)
• Advertising, bonus and responsible-gaming compliance under the 2025 amendment and the Regulation on socially responsible organization (NN 129/25)
• Monthly settlement of the 5% betting tax or 15% casino fee with the Tax Administration

Gambling taxes in Croatia

• Operators: Betting: 5% of total stakes (turnover), online and retail. Casino games including online casino: monthly fee of 15% of GGR. Slot machines: 25% of GGR. Lottery (Hrvatska Lutrija): 10% of ticket sales. Plus 18% corporate income tax.
• Players: Tiered tax on lottery and betting winnings since 1 May 2025: 10% up to EUR 1,500, 15% from EUR 1,500 to EUR 4,000, 20% from EUR 4,000 to EUR 70,000 and 30% above EUR 70,000, withheld by the operator.
• Also: At least 11% of the additional revenue from the 2025 changes is earmarked for addiction prevention and treatment according to the Government. Annual fees are due in full for any part of a year in which the right is exercised.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Since 1 May 2025 gambling may not be advertised on the internet or in audiovisual and radio programs between 6 am and 11 pm, nor in print media or on publicly visible surfaces such as billboards, and celebrities, athletes and social-media creators may not promote gambling. Operators and creators face fines of EUR 3,980 to EUR 6,630 per breach. Lighter treatment of Hrvatska Lutrija's lottery games is part of EUROMAT's 2026 complaint to the European Commission.

Responsible gaming

Players must be 18 or older and identified before play in every channel except low-risk lottery games. The Register of Excluded Players run by HZJZ went live on 1 August 2025 and covered all licensees by 1 November 2025; one entry applies to every venue and site in Croatia and operators check status by OIB. More than 11,200 people had registered by mid-2026; allowing an excluded person to play carries fines of up to EUR 66,360.

Identity and age verification

Identity is established from an official document at registration; the operator matches the OIB against the exclusion register and applies AML customer due diligence under Croatian anti-money-laundering law. Technical identification at self-service terminals became mandatory on 1 January 2026.

Payments

Licensed operators accept cards, SEPA and SEPA Instant bank transfers and e-wallets, and pay winnings to the player's verified account after withholding the winnings tax; crypto is not accepted. The Tax Administration orders blocking of unlicensed sites, though a 2025 industry study found card-payment blocking still incomplete.

Notable restrictions

• Lottery games reserved for Hrvatska Lutrija
• Online casino and betting only for holders of the corresponding land-based right, seated in Croatia
• Advertising ban online and in electronic media 6 am to 11 pm, and in print and outdoor media
• No celebrities, athletes or influencers in gambling promotion
• Mandatory identification and exclusion-register check before play
• Tiered 10–30% withholding tax on betting and lottery winnings

Croatia iGaming market: size, players and payments

Tax Administration data cited by Lider show a January 2026 monthly tax base of about EUR 103 million for betting (EUR 86 million online), EUR 43 million for casino games (EUR 39 million online) and EUR 25 million for slots; the largest gambling companies reported combined 2024 revenue of EUR 948 million (CompanyWall via Financije.hr, 2025).

Online betting's share of the betting tax base rose from about 69% in January 2025 to 84% in January 2026 as retail and terminal play declined (Lider, 2026).

Croatia is inside SEPA and payment providers have offered instant transfers since 2025, so licensed sites settle deposits and payouts in seconds; play is predominantly through apps.

SuperSport (EUR 242 million 2024 revenue), Hattrick-PSK, Interigre, Top Games (Rizk.hr) and Germania lead; SuperSport and Germania held more than 70% of bets before the October 2025 round admitted Superbet and Favbet's Sretna Kombinacija.

Timeline: how Croatia got here

1. 2009Games of Chance Act (NN 87/09) adopted, creating the Government-granted right to organize casino games and betting
2. 2010Rulebook on organizing casino games online allows licensees to add the online channel
3. 2023-01Croatia adopts the euro; fees and guarantees restated in euro
4. 2025-04Sabor adopts the amendment NN 72/2025 on 11 April; published 23 April, in force 1 May 2025
5. 2025-08Register of Excluded Players goes live at HZJZ; all licensees connected by 1 November 2025
6. 2025-10Government grants 15-year betting rights to six companies, including new entrants Superbet and Sretna Kombinacija (Favbet)
7. 2026-01Technical player identification at self-service terminals becomes mandatory
8. 2026-03EUROMAT complains to the European Commission that the 2025 amendment was not notified under EU rules

Outlook

A comprehensive replacement Games of Chance Act was announced for 2026 but had not been adopted as of mid-2026, so the amended 2009 Act governs. The European Commission's assessment of EUROMAT's complaint over the missing TRIS notification and alleged privileges for Hrvatska Lutrija could affect the enforceability of parts of the 2025 amendment. The first Ministry of Health ordinance on the exclusion register took effect on 30 July 2026.

Launching in Croatia with GameBridge

Turnkey (your licence, our platform). Only a Croatian company holding a Government-granted right and a Ministry of Finance online approval may serve Croatian players, so the operator holds the licence and runs on GameBridge technology; GameBridge holds no Croatian right or approval.

A Croatian brand on GameBridge runs in Croatian with a EUR wallet, geo-controls that admit Croatian residents only after document-based identification, an OIB lookup against the Register of Excluded Players at registration and login, and the real-time data connection the Ministry of Finance requires. The cashier connects cards, SEPA Instant transfers and Aircash through the operator's payment institutions and applies the tiered winnings tax at withdrawal for betting products. Marketing tools enforce the online advertising curfew and the creator ban, and the catalog is limited to certified titles; GameBridge Studios and Originals ship with the certification package a Croatian-accredited laboratory needs.

• Croatian site language and EUR wallet
• Document-based identification and OIB checks against the exclusion register
• Real-time reporting connection to the Ministry of Finance information system
• Tiered winnings-tax withholding at withdrawal for betting and lottery-type products
• Marketing scheduler enforcing the 6 am to 11 pm curfew and creator restrictions
• Monthly 5% turnover and 15% GGR fee reporting
• Certification package for GameBridge Studios and Originals versions

Croatian players bet on football and play slots and live casino; the aggregated catalog brings the studios already certified for Croatian licensees, GameBridge Studios builds exclusives to the operator's brief, and the GameBridge sportsbook covers the domestic league and European football calendar.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• Zakon o izmjenama i dopunama Zakona o igrama na sreću (NN 72/2025) — Narodne novine, accessed 2026-09-11
• Zakon o igrama na sreću (consolidated text in force from 1 May 2025) — Zakon.hr, accessed 2026-09-11
• Mišljenja Središnjeg ureda: primjena izmijenjenih propisa o igrama na sreću — Porezna uprava, accessed 2026-09-11
• Registar isključenih igrača (RII): upute za priređivače — Hrvatski zavod za javno zdravstvo, accessed 2026-09-11
• Six bookmakers granted licenses: Superbet and Sretna Kombinacija enter the market for the first time — Lider Media, accessed 2026-09-11
• New regulation of the gambling market and the fate of Croatian sports — Lider Media, accessed 2026-09-11
• Croatia's gambling law under fire over EU notification breach — theiGaming.eu, accessed 2026-09-11
• Croatia: nearly 10,000 join self-exclusion register — Global Gaming Insider, accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.