New Zealand's gambling outlook
New Zealanders spent $2.25 billion on gambling in the 2021/22 financial year, $371 million more than the previous year. The 2020 Health and Lifestyles Survey found that a little over 69% of the population had participated in at least one form of gambling annually, with Lotto (59.1%), pokies at the pub/club/casino (10.9%), and any New Zealand horse or dog race and sports events (10.9%) being the most common forms of gambling.
Nearly 30% of the population participated in online gambling and 2.6% gambled on overseas websites.
Based on the evidence, Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs or pokies) continue to cause the most harm. Licensed to operate for charitable purposes only, non-casino pokies accounted for almost 51% of people who seek help for their gambling; adding pokies takes this figure to over 60%.
New Zealanders spent $2.25 billion on gambling in the 2021/22 financial year, $371 million more than the previous year
The outcomes of gambling
There are some specific harms associated with gambling including:
- Decreased health
- Emotional or psychological distress
- Financial harm
- Reduced performance at work or education
- Relationship disruption, conflict or breakdown
- Criminal activity
Research shows that one in five New Zealand adults (22%) is affected at some time in their lives by their own gambling or the gambling of others.
Estimates suggest that around 65,000 people aged 16 and overwere at either moderate-risk or high-risk of harm from gambling or are problem gamblers; and a further 119,000 New Zealanders were at low-risk but would experience gambling related harm during their lifetime.
A 2017 report prepared for the Ministry of Health found that:
“Gambling causes over twice the amount of harm than chronic conditions such as osteoarthritis (2.1x) and diabetes (2.5x) and three times the amount of harm from drug use disorders.”
Gambling problems inflict harm on partners, children, parents, siblings, grandparents and the wider community and there are a number of studies linking harmful gambling with family violence and child abuse.
Many women who have been victims of gambling-related intimate partner violence can and do experience lifelong trauma, including damage to relationships with children, family and social networks; and rarely if ever recover from the economic abuse perpetrated by their partner in funding their gambling.