While total betting by Australians rose 3.9 percent during the year ending in June, sports betting led the way with a 13 percent increase according to the recently released Australian Gambling Statistics report.
Australians bet A$23.6 billion (US$18.0 billion) in the year. The highest percentage came from expenditure on gaming, which includes casinos, gaming machines, lottery, interactive gaming, keno and pools, which reached $19.8 billion, a growth of about 3.5 percent, according to Asian Gaming Brief.
Sports betting expenditure increases 13 percent to $920.7 million. Expenditure in casinos in the financial year ending June 2016 edged up just 0.4 percent to $5.19 billion, though spending on gaming machines, or pokies as they are known in Australia, was up 4.2 percent, to $12.07 billion, the report said. Racing expenditure increased 4.1 percent year-on-year to $2.9 billion.
For the year ending in June, Australia had 196,631 gaming machines in operation, with the majority in New South Wales and Queensland at 96,408 and 46,481 respectively.
Australians gambled on average $1,272.80 per capita, only a slight increase from the previous year’s $1,241.90, the report said.
