More and more Norwegians have gambling problems, study shows

Around 21,000 Norwegians have developed gambling problems over the past five years.

According to a recent research report commissioned by the Lottery Authority, Norwegians seem to have bigger problems with gambling than the inhabitants of the other Nordic countries. 

The number of people with gambling problems has increased from 34,000 to 55,000 since 2015, while the number of players at risk of developing gambling problems has increased from 88,000 to 122,000 in the same period.

The survey on money and computer gaming problems was carried out by researchers at the University of Bergen last fall. 

The conclusions are based on the responses of just over 9,000 participants between the ages of 16 and 74. 

A total of 64% gambled last year 

A total of 63.6% of people surveyed had participated in gambling over the past twelve months, representing a significant increase from the previous population survey conducted in 2015, the report said. 

The results were presented at a webinar on Tuesday morning. 

There are probably several reasons that more people are participating in gambling now, including increased exposure to advertising and accessibility of games over the Internet. 

The uptick can also be linked to the fact that the gambling industry has a larger overall turnover today, according to the Lottery Authority. 

Most online gamers used mobile phones. 

Twice as many women gamble 

Men are at higher risk than women for developing gambling problems, but twice as many women have gambling problems today as they did five years ago. 

The findings showed that the population had negative attitudes toward gambling, but less negative to Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto than to foreign companies. 

This is the first time Norwegians’ attitude to gambling has been mapped. 

Men, the elderly, single people, and those without children in the household had more positive attitudes than comparable groups. 

The same applies to people with low education and low income, as well as those who had participated in computer games and money games. 

Those who participate in gambling had higher consumption of alcohol, and more of them smoked or used snuff compared to those who did not participate in gambling.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today