Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs publishes gambling prevalence study

The study drew from 20,000 surveys from across the country.

Spain.- The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has presented its Prevalence Study of Gambling on the General Public of Spain to public health stakeholders on its Responsible Gambling Advisory Council. The study compiles data from 20,000 surveys in Spain’s 17 autonomous communities.

The study estimates that 49.5 per cent of the Spanish population of 47.5 million engages in some form of gambling. Of these people, 97 per cent engage in gambling in person and 6.6 per cent online. Some 81 per cent of people said they only played on lotteries.

The penetration of online gambling was greatest among male players in the 26-to-35 (23.7 per cent) and 35-to-45 (23.2 per cent) age groups. However, the 18-to-25 cohort engaged in more online gambling services than land-based, showing a change in habits in the young generation.

Sports betting and lotteries were the product segments that had the highest weekly frequency, with 31 per cent and 27 per cent respectively playing more than twice a week. The survey found that gambling in Spain was mainly moderate and that most players spent under an hour a week and less than €50 per month on gambling.

The online gambling trade body, Jdigital, said of the study: “The Ministry of Consumer Affairs boasts of regulating based on science. However, from our perspective, over the past four years, the Ministry has regulated first and then presented data to justify its legislation.”

It argued that the estimate of 6.6 per cent of players engaging in online gambling showed that the ministry had been responsible for a “demonisation of the online gambling sector.” It also raised concerns about the “limited awareness of the differences between legal and illegal gambling” among the Spanish public.

“We are surprised that the report from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs presents such low illegal gambling data, especially considering the high number of websites that are shut down each year,” Jdigital added.

Last month, the annual report from the Spanish gambling industry association CeJuego estimated that 29.5 million people aged 18 to 73 took part in some form of gambling in Spain last year. That makes for a participation rate of 83.9 per cent.

CeJuego’s gaming and society survey found that the Spanish gambling sector had returned to normality after the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw a period of stricter advertising rules as well as lockdown measures. CeJuego reported that gambling activity increased in 2022 when compared to 2020 and 2021, which saw participation of 80.9 per cent and 82.4 per cent respectively.

The national gambling regulator, the DGOJ, has reported that nationwide gross gambling revenue for the second quarter reached €312.6m. That’s a rise of 55.1 per cent year-on-year and 2.5 per cent against the previous quarter.