Swiss Study Reveals Trends in Gambling Behaviour since Online Casinos were Legalised

Less Gamblers

Data from the Swiss Institute for Addiction and Health Research (ISGF) based on the Federal Statistical Office’s (FSO) Swiss Health Survey 2022 shows that 44.5% of the respondents played money games in 2022. This is down from 55% in 2017 so there is a downward trend in gambling in Switzerland.

Swiss lottery games are still the most popular form of gambling, with 39.4% of the respondents playing. Other popular activities are raffles and private games (7%), table games in Swiss casinos (6.2%), slot machines in Swiss casinos (4.5%), sports betting with Swiss providers (4.1%), gambling in foreign casinos (2.7%), online games from Swiss casinos (2%) and online gambling with international providers (0.8%).

Online Casino Legalisation

Since online casinos were legalised in Switzerland in 2019 and foreign gambling websites were blocked, there has been a change in online gambling behaviour. Playing with foreign online providers decreased from 2.3% in 2017 to 0.8% in 2022 and playing with Swiss online casinos increased to 2% in 2022. Overall online gambling remained stable at around 2.4%.

Most gamblers play infrequently and spend little. Frequent gamblers (at least once a month) decreased to 14.5% in 2022 from 16.4% in 2017. 47.8% of the gamblers spent less than 10 CHF per month and 37% between 10 and 99 CHF.

The study found higher risk or pathological gambling behaviour in certain games. Online games from Swiss casinos had a risk rate of 37.6%, international online games 35.2%, slot machines in Swiss casinos 23.2% and sports betting with Swiss lottery providers 21.6%.

No Change in Problem Gambling

Lifetime risk gambling behaviour remained stable, 5.8% in 2022 compared to 5.7% in 2017. Pathological gambling behaviour was reported by 0.8% of the respondents in 2022, up from 0.6% in 2017. Due to methodological limitations and the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the survey period, 12-month prevalence rates couldn’t be compared directly.

Switzerland’s risk and pathological gambling rates are medium to low compared to other European countries. The report also shows specific population groups that are most affected by gambling issues.

The Swiss Federal Gaming Commission (SFGB) which supervises the casinos, stresses that casinos must implement the required protective measures for at-risk players as soon as possible. The results show that online gambling legalisation has redirected many online gamblers to the regulated Swiss platforms, which should help to protect the players.