More than one million Indonesians engaged in online gambling during the first quarter of 2025, according to newly released figures from the country’s financial intelligence agency. The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) reported that approximately 1.07 million individuals participated in online gambling activity between January 2025 and March 2025, despite the practice being strictly prohibited under Indonesian law.
over the socio-economic background of many users. PPATK head Ivan Yustiavandana noted that 71 percent of those identified earned less than IDR 5 million per month (€290), placing them among citizens who continue to struggle with basic living expenses.
High user volume persists
Although the number of users remains high, the total value of deposits made to online gambling platforms has declined significantly. According to PPATK data, total deposits between January and March 2025 amounted to IDR 6.2 trillion (€360 million)—a sharp fall from the IDR 15 trillion (€870 million) recorded over the same period last year.
“These are not affluent gamblers, but individuals facing financial vulnerability,” Yustiavandana said during a press briefing at the National Police Criminal Investigation Headquarters in Jakarta.
The agency attributes this drop to the government’s intensified crackdown. “This decline suggests that some of our intervention measures are beginning to work,” Yustiavandana said, citing stricter enforcement and growing public awareness.
Among these efforts, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kominfo) has routinely blocked thousands of gambling websites. By 2024, tens of thousands of illegal domains had been taken offline.
In parallel, financial authorities—including Bank Indonesia and the Financial Services Authority (OJK)—have worked to freeze bank accounts and block electronic payments linked to gambling transactions, effectively disrupting the monetary flow supporting these activities.
Coordination with other authorities heightened
PPATK has increased coordination with the National Police to improve surveillance and more efficiently identify suspicious financial activity in order to counter this. Additionally, in recent months, public awareness campaigns have been launched to warn of financial risk and gambling addiction.
Authorities emphasise that more needs to be done to lower the number of users and prevent additional harm to low-income households, even though they acknowledge that some progress has been made. The government has promised to step up its efforts to break up illicit gambling networks and the financial systems that support them.
While authorities say some progress has been made, they stress that more must be done to reduce user numbers and prevent further harm to low-income households. The government has pledged to intensify its efforts to dismantle illegal gambling networks and the financial systems that sustain them.
