Online gambling in Iceland: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Iceland?

Icelandic law prohibits gambling as a business unless a special act allows it. The Lotteries Act No. 38/2005 and older sector acts authorize Íslensk getspá (Lottó, Víkingalottó, Eurojackpot), Íslenskar getraunir (sports pools and the Lengjan betting product), the University of Iceland Lottery, Happdrætti DAS, Happdrætti SÍBS and Íslandsspil (collection-box slot machines), all run for charitable or public purposes under the Ministry of Justice and the district commissioners. No casino, poker or online casino licence exists, and no regulator is dedicated to online gambling. In a parliamentary debate on 25 September 2025 the Minister of Justice said that foreign betting operators directing their business at Icelanders breach Icelandic law, that Iceland lacks any specialized supervision of them, and that the options are to keep the ban, legalize, or adopt a Nordic-style licensing system; no bill had followed as of September 2026.

Restricted: Online gambling is prohibited for operators or licensing is closed; enforcement varies.

Who regulates gambling in Iceland?

• Dómsmálaráðuneytið (Ministry of Justice) (DMR) — Administers the Lotteries Act and the special acts for the authorized lottery, pools and slot-machine operators; appeals body for permit decisions
• Sýslumaðurinn á Suðurlandi (District Commissioner of South Iceland) (Sýslumaður) — Issues lottery permits and supervises gaming machines under the Lotteries Act and its regulations

Iceland gambling licence: how it works

There is no licensing system for commercial gambling, online or land-based. The Lotteries Act No. 38/2005 makes it an offense, punishable by fines or up to six months in prison (one year for extensive or repeated activity), to run lottery or betting activity in Iceland without a permit and to advertise, promote or disseminate information about unlicensed lotteries whether they are operated in Iceland or abroad. Permits for ordinary lotteries are issued by the district commissioner and are reserved for charitable and public-interest purposes, while the numbers games, sports pools, university lottery and slot machines run under their own acts by the six authorized entities. A foreign or commercial company therefore has nothing to apply for; only new legislation would change that.

What an applicant needs

• Commercial operators: no application route exists for casino, poker, betting or online gambling
• Charitable lotteries: permit from the district commissioner under the Lotteries Act with prize, accounting and purpose conditions
• Authorized entities: operate strictly within their special acts (Íslensk getspá, Íslenskar getraunir, HHÍ, DAS, SÍBS, Íslandsspil)
• Media and intermediaries: advertising or promoting unlicensed lotteries and betting is an offense under Article 11 of the Lotteries Act

Gambling taxes in Iceland

• Operators: No gambling tax regime for commercial operators exists because none can be licensed; the authorized lottery and pools operators pay their surplus to the sports, youth, university and charitable purposes set out in their acts.
• Players: Prizes from lotteries and games licensed under Icelandic law are exempt from income tax; winnings from other gambling are treated as taxable income of the player.
• Also: The Minister of Justice noted in September 2025 that other countries tax licensed operators on net revenue and make them fund supervision and prevention, and described this as something for Iceland to consider.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Advertising or promoting any lottery or betting activity that does not hold an Icelandic permit is an offense under the Lotteries Act, whether the operator is based in Iceland or abroad. In practice foreign betting brands have advertised to Icelanders through international channels without penalties, a gap that MPs and the Minister of Justice highlighted in the September 2025 debate.

Responsible gaming

There is no national self-exclusion register or gambling authority. The Ministry of Health signed an agreement with the addiction treatment association SÁÁ in 2025 to fund treatment for gambling addiction for the first time, and the parliamentary debate focused on prevention and on protecting children and young people.

Identity and age verification

The authorized operators register players for online lottery and pools play with the Icelandic national ID number (kennitala) and an 18+ age check; there is no gambling-specific KYC regime for other products because they cannot be licensed. Iceland's national risk assessment rates money-laundering risk from online gambling with foreign operators as high.

Payments

There is no payment-blocking or DNS-blocking regime; banks and card issuers process payments to foreign operators without restriction, which the Minister of Justice named as a difference from the other Nordic countries. Licensed lotteries and pools accept Icelandic payment cards and online banking.

Notable restrictions

• All gambling prohibited unless authorized by a special act; no casino, poker or online casino permits
• Only six entities may run lotteries, sports pools and slot machines, for public and charitable purposes
• Advertising of unlicensed lotteries and betting is an offense, including for foreign operators
• No dedicated gambling regulator, self-exclusion register or payment blocking as of 2026

Iceland iGaming market: size, players and payments

No official estimate. In the 25 September 2025 Althingi debate, MP Sigurþóra Bergsdóttir put Icelanders' spending on foreign betting sites at roughly ISK 10 to 12 billion a year, about half the size of the domestic lottery market; trade press has quoted higher figures attributed to the Ministry of Health.

The Minister of Justice described Icelanders as among the heaviest gamblers in Europe per head on the basis of those estimates, with the two licensed operators (Íslensk getspá/Getraunir and the University lottery) holding a small share of online play.

Íslensk getspá and Getraunir sell online through apps and websites tied to the national ID; no official mobile share is published.

Six authorized non-commercial operators share the legal market; foreign operators without any Icelandic authorization account for most online casino and betting play according to the estimates cited in parliament.

Timeline: how Iceland got here

1. 1972Act No. 59/1972 establishes Íslenskar getraunir for sports pools
2. 1986Act No. 26/1986 establishes Íslensk getspá to run the national numbers game
3. 2005-07Lotteries Act No. 38/2005 enters into force, consolidating permit rules under the Ministry of Justice
4. 2010-06Act No. 61/2010 extends the advertising offense to unlicensed lotteries operated abroad
5. 2025-09Althingi special debate on unlawful betting; the Justice Minister sets out ban, legalization and licensing options
6. 2025-11Ministry of Health agreement with SÁÁ funds gambling-addiction treatment; calls for a national gambling authority

Outlook

No bill to license online gambling or to create a gambling authority had been tabled as of September 2026. The Justice Minister has signaled openness to a framework with supervision, and health officials and the association SÁS are pressing for a single regulator, advertising enforcement and harm-reduction funding, so a policy paper or bill is possible in the 2026 to 2027 sessions. Until legislation changes, the legal position is unchanged: gambling remains prohibited outside the six authorized entities.

GameBridge and Iceland

Not served by GameBridge. Iceland offers no licence for commercial or online gambling and its government states that foreign operators directing gambling at Icelanders act unlawfully, so GameBridge brands exclude Iceland by default.

Iceland is on GameBridge's default exclusion geo list for every brand, whichever licence the brand operates under, and the platform's country controls block registration, deposits and play from Icelandic IP addresses, addresses and identity documents. Icelandic is not offered as a site language and ISK is not configured as a player wallet currency. This page exists so compliance teams can verify Iceland's status quickly and cite the primary sources; if Iceland adopts a licensing system, GameBridge would support licence holders under the turnkey model and revisit this page.

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.

• Lög um happdrætti nr. 38/2005 (Lotteries Act) — Alþingi, accessed 2026-09-11
• Ólögleg veðmálastarfsemi á Íslandi — ræða dómsmálaráðherra, 25. september 2025 — Alþingi, accessed 2026-09-11
• Þingmenn ræða stjórnlausa veðmálastarfsemi: Íslendingar Evrópumeistarar — Vísir, accessed 2026-09-11
• Iceland Faces Growing Pressure to Reform Gambling Oversight — iGaming Express, accessed 2026-09-11
• Iceland Pushes for Stronger Gambling Oversight Amid Rise in Unlicensed Online Play — iGamingToday, 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.