Macao’s official register of problem gambling shows what appears to be a significant increase in cases for the first half of 2024. There were 108 cases recorded between January and June, compared to 169 recorded across the whole of 2023.
Last year’s figure – which this year’s seems likely to beat – was the highest since the register began in 2011. The second highest annual tally was 157, recorded in 2017.
Official figures showed that almost a quarter of cases said they gambled to solve financial problems (entertainment was the next most common motive, followed by “dispelling boredom and depression”). Some 71 percent of them reported having debts to pay off.
[See more: How the pandemic altered gambling behaviour among mainland Chinese]
Of this year’s cases, 39 were rated as “severe,” the highest percentage in eight years. Conversely, a record low number of cases worked in casinos: just over five percent, down from a record high of about 37 percent back in 2012.
The data also revealed that almost 90 percent of this year’s cases were men of various ages (their average age was 39), and that just over a third of them were married. Thirteen percent of all problem cases were unemployed, while 18 percent identified as either a student, homemaker or retiree.
Interestingly, just 60 percent of cases were people with Macao an identity card – down from 69 percent in 2023 and significantly less than the 14-year average of 83 percent.
[See more: Macao’s casino staff struggle to curb problem gambling in clients, says study]
The rise in problem gambling was consistent with a study published earlier in the year by researchers at Macao Polytechnic University’s Centre for Gaming and Tourism Studies. It found that staff at Macao casinos “rarely proactively intervene in problem gambling behaviour” due to fear of offending clients or getting themselves into trouble, role ambiguity, and a lack of support.
Problem gambling, or gambling addiction, is generally defined as behaviour that damages a person’s daily life, career, or family – often through compulsively gambling away savings and accumulating debt, creating financial stress.
