Indonesia Cuts Illegal Online Gambling Turnover by 20%
Indonesia recorded a notable slowdown in illegal online gambling activity in 2025, as the total value of funds circulating through unlicensed betting platforms fell by 20 percent year-on-year to Rp286.84 trillion (around $19 billion). The decline marks a sharp reversal from the Rp359.81 trillion recorded in 2024 and represents the first measurable contraction since authorities intensified coordinated enforcement efforts.
The figures were published by Indonesia’s Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) as part of its wider review of financial flows and suspicious activity within the banking and payments ecosystem. While the reduction in turnover signals progress, the overall scale of activity remains substantial. PPATK logged more than 422 million gambling-related transactions during the year, alongside Rp36.01 trillion in deposits, compared with Rp51.3 trillion a year earlier. Participation levels also remained broadly unchanged, with an estimated 12.3 million individuals continuing to move funds through banks, digital wallets and QRIS payment channels.
Coordinated Enforcement Disrupts Gambling Flows
PPATK attributed the downturn to tighter coordination between regulators, financial institutions and digital platforms, which has increasingly restricted funding routes for illegal gambling, commonly referred to locally as “judol.” Public Relations Substantive Group Coordinator M. Natsir Kongah pointed to cross-sector collaboration as a key factor behind the reduction in deposits and transaction volumes.
Between September 2023 and December 2025, Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority instructed banks to freeze more than 30,000 accounts linked to gambling activity, bringing the total to 31,382 by early January. Financial institutions have also been ordered to close any additional accounts tied to the same national identification numbers, alongside implementing stricter customer due diligence measures.
Parallel action in the digital space has reinforced these efforts. From late October 2023 to mid-September 2024, authorities removed close to 2.8 million pieces of harmful online content, including around 2.1 million items associated with gambling platforms. By the third quarter of 2024, the total value of gambling-related transactions had already fallen 57 percent year-on-year to Rp155 trillion, suggesting that enforcement momentum has been building over time.
Gambling Remains a Major Source of Suspicious Activity
Despite the decline in transaction values, online gambling continued to dominate PPATK’s suspicious activity monitoring in 2025. Of the 183,281 suspicious transaction reports filed during the year, nearly half were linked to fraud, with additional reports tied to broader fraud schemes and corruption cases.
Overall reporting volumes rose sharply, with PPATK receiving more than 42.7 million transaction reports up 25.5 percent from the previous year. According to Kongah, this increase reflects improved detection capabilities among banks and payment service providers, particularly as gambling funds continue to move through conventional banking channels, digital wallets and QRIS systems.
Annual Review Highlights FATF Progress
PPATK Head Ivan Yustiavandana highlighted the 20 percent reduction in gambling turnover during the agency’s Annual Reporting Meeting in Jakarta on January 28, describing it as an important milestone. He framed the results as evidence that sustained public-private cooperation is strengthening Indonesia’s financial controls ahead of the Financial Action Task Force’s Mutual Evaluation Review, expected in 2029 or 2030.
Evolving Payment Methods Test Regulators
While enforcement measures have delivered measurable results, PPATK acknowledged emerging challenges. The growing use of QRIS payments has outpaced traditional banking and e-wallet channels, complicating monitoring efforts. Authorities also noted that gambling proceeds are increasingly being converted into cryptocurrencies in attempts to bypass account freezes.
Persistent Scale Keeps Pressure On
Although the reduction in transaction values and deposits signals that enforcement is taking effect, the sheer volume of activity underscores how deeply embedded illegal online gambling remains. Regulators continue to rely on account freezes, content takedowns and expanded reporting obligations as they work to tighten financial controls and strengthen Indonesia’s long-term compliance framework.
