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Business Environment Profiles - Australia

Per capita gambling expenditure

Published: 29 August 2024

Key Metrics

Per capita gambling expenditure

Total (2025)

1341 $

Annualized Growth 2020-25

4.3 %

Definition of Per capita gambling expenditure

This report analyses per capita gambling expenditure in Australia. The definition of gambling constitutes all legalised forms, including gaming, racing and sports betting. Expenditure is taken as a net figure and is therefore equivalent to real average losses per person each financial year and includes expenditure by overseas visitors. The data for the report is sourced from the Queensland Government Statistician's Office.

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Recent Trends – Per capita gambling expenditure

IBISWorld forecasts per capita gambling expenditure to rise by 1.9% in 2024-25, to total $1,340.80. The main driver of growth in 2024-25 is likely to be increasing real household discretionary income. Growing discretionary income is expected to come via interest rate cuts by the RBA, granted that inflation is under a sufficient level of control. Falling interest rates will see a decline in interest expenditure on mortgages and other loan repayments. This trend will foster growth in spending on forms of entertainment, like gambling.

Per capita gambling expenditure has fluctuated over the past five years, but has grown for the majority of the period as the gambling sector has continued its recovery from the pandemic fallout. Social distancing measures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic led to temporary closures of casinos, pubs and other gambling licensed venues, drastically reducing turnover and expenditure on in-person gaming. Some sporting competitions and racing continued throughout the pandemic, offsetting some of the declines in in-person gambling at gaming machines and casinos through online sports betting. However, per capita gambling expenditure suffered a 19.4% drop in 2019-20 in response to issues caused by the pandemic.

Between 2020-21 and 2022-23, per capita gambling expenditure was on a strong upward trajectory. Discretionary income was high coming out of the pandemic, as wage subsidies and low spending rates had filled many hip pockets across the country. The relaxation of pandemic restrictions also allowed the return of in-person gambling at casinos and licensed venues with gaming machines. High discretionary income and growing in-person gambling expenditure pushed up expenditure on gambling activities in the early post-pandemic years.

More recently, cost of living pressures have stunted growth in per capita gambling expenditure. Financial pressure on households has forced many to reconsider gambling habits and cut back on spending on gambling as a form of entertainment. Even so, online sports betting has remained popular despite the cost of living pressures. Marketing campaigns targeted at young gamblers have ensured that gambling expenditure from young adults has continued to climb. The growing uptake of online wagering has also led to a shift towards sports betting at the expense of more traditional platforms like poker machines. However, sports betting still only makes up a small share of per capita gambling expenditure. Electronic gaming on poker machines accounts for over half of total gambling expenditure. The substantial number of poker machines, coupled with the addictive nature of gambling, has driven a large amount of expenditure by gamblers. Overall, IBISWorld forecasts per capita gambling expenditure to rise at a compound annual rate of 4.3% over the five years through 2024-25.

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5-Year Outlook – Per capita gambling expenditure

IBISWorld forecasts per capita gambling expenditure to rise to $1,353.94 in 2025-26, which repres...

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