Back in February, The Economist published the below chart showing that Australia was leading the world in gambling losses, losing just under $US1,000 a year per resident adult, with nearly half of these losses coming from poker machines (see below graphic).
According to The Economist:
To the general public, Australia hardly leaps to mind as a gambling hotbed. Yet industry insiders know it is far and away their most lucrative market: according to H2 Gambling Capital (H2G), a consultancy, betting losses per resident adult there amounted to $990 last year. That is 40% higher than Singapore, the runner-up, and around double the average in other Western countries. The most popular form of gaming in Australia is on ubiquitous electronic poker machines, or “pokies”, which are more prevalent there than anywhere else. Although the devices are legal in many other markets, bet sizes are usually capped at modest levels. By contrast, in Australia, which began to deregulate the industry in the 1980s, punters can lose as much as $1,150 an hour.
Last week, the Australian Gambling Statistics for 2015-16 were released, which revealed that annual gambling expenditure rose by 3.9%, with expenditure on pokies machines growing by 4.2%:
As shown in the next chart, pokies machines are by far the biggest source of gambling expenditure, accounting for $12.1 billion or 51% of Australia’s $23.6 billion of gambling expenditure in 2015-16:
Looking at the individual jurisdictions, by far the biggest per capita expenditure took place in NT, followed a long way back by NSW and VIC:
Imagine the stats also included punting on house prices?
But in all seriousness, pokie machines – which make up more than half of all gambling expenditure – are a blight on our society. And while alcohol and cigarettes are also used by consenting adults, consumption of both have shown a decline in recent years, unlike poker machine losses.
