Fewer people gambling

Stuff reports:

More than $2 billion is thought to be lost to gambling annually in New Zealand, but the number engaged in regular gambling has dropped off.

In 2012, researchers from AUT University and the National Research Bureau conducted the largest gambling survey since 1999, with 6251 adults taking part. The results have just been made public.

“The most notable finding was a substantial drop in the number of people who gamble weekly or more.

“In the present survey only 22 per cent of adults took part this often, compared to the 40 per cent in 1999 and 48 per cent in 1991, ” lead researcher Professor Max Abbott said.

So the number who regularly gamble is actually declining, not increasing. Useful to recall when we hear from taxpayer funded lobby groups demanding the Government give them more money to deal with problem gambling.