Is online gambling legal in the United Arab Emirates?

Legal & regulated

The UAE legalized online gambling in 2023 through the GCGRA, granting licenses for casinos, lotteries, and internet gaming with strict regulations.

The United Arab Emirates is one of 6 countries classified “Legal & regulated” for online gambling — 27% of the 22 with data. (Also searched as online betting.)

Source

Taken from
Wikipedia: Online gambling
Last checked
15 September 2026
How it was classified
Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.

Nearby countries

Israel
Illegal Online gambling is illegal in Israel, with some exceptions for specific games like backgammon.
India
Illegal Online gambling is illegal in India, with only rummy being legally permitted as a game of skill.
Ukraine
Legal & regulated Ukraine legalized online gambling, bookmaking, and casinos in August 2020 through bill 2285-D.
Bangladesh
Illegal Online gambling is illegal in Bangladesh, with frequent busts and no comprehensive laws covering online gambling.
Serbia
Partially legal Serbia requires online casinos to comply with new certification games.
Belarus
Legal & regulated Belarus legalized online gambling in 2018, with licensed operations allowed from April 2019 under strict state controls.

Other laws in United Arab Emirates

Gambling Age
18
Cryptocurrency
Legal

Every law in the United Arab Emirates → · Where is online gambling legal? →

A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.