National wagering spend declines despite growth in gambling market 

Australian wagering expenditure fell 1.4 per cent to $8.45 billion in 2024/25, while net losses from poker machines, casinos and other gaming products rose, according to the latest national statistics.

The Australian Gambling Statistics report recorded a decline in wagering expenditure from $8.578 billion in 2023/24, while gaming expenditure, including lotteries, increased from $24.33 billion to $24.55 billion.

These opposing movements left total gambling expenditure marginally higher at $33 billion, up from $32.9 billion in 2023/24.

The figures represent customers’ aggregate net losses across the legal gambling market, calculated after winnings are paid, rather than the amount wagered or losses incurred by gambling companies.

Compiled by the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office in cooperation with state and territory authorities, the 41st edition of Australian Gambling Statistics covers 1999/00 to 2024/25 and provides a long-term record of gambling turnover, expenditure and government revenue.

The data is generally sourced from states and territories rather than wagering operators.

The report defines expenditure as the “net amount lost or the amount wagered less the amount won”, also describing it as the “gross profit due to the operators” of gambling products.

That measure does not equal corporate net profit, which must account for wages, taxes, marketing, operating expenses, and other costs.

The latest release arrived amid a national debate over gambling advertising and regulation, with Parliament scrutinising the federal government’s 2026 reform package and a Senate inquiry.

Independent ACT senator David Pocock has repeatedly argued for stronger restrictions, invoking the widely cited claim that Australians are the world’s biggest gambling losers on a per-capita basis, while criticising the normalisation of betting through advertising and its links with sport.

Racing Australia chief executive Paul Eriksson, appearing before the Senate inquiry in August, put the industry’s case in economic terms while citing the report.

He told the committee that thoroughbred racing and breeding generated about $15 billion in economic activity and supported more than 100,000 full-time-equivalent jobs, with over half of those positions in regional areas.

For the racing industry, the decline in wagering expenditure measures the broader betting market but does not show whether punters are spending less on thoroughbred, harness or greyhound racing.

The national wagering category includes betting on racing, sporting events and other approved events, but does not provide a comprehensive breakdown of net losses attributable separately to horse racing and greyhound racing.

The 1.4 per cent decline therefore cannot be attributed specifically to racing, nor does it establish whether sports betting has gained ground at racing’s expense.

Turnover also differs from expenditure: turnover measures the total amount wagered, while expenditure records the net amount retained from customers’ betting activity after winnings are paid.

The distinction matters in racing, where punters can wager money returned to them, producing turnover figures far higher than customers’ aggregate net losses.

The latest results follow a period of significant structural change in the betting market, including the expansion of online wagering, the introduction of point-of-consumption taxes across most jurisdictions and the disruption caused by COVID-19 restrictions.

The wagering figures have not included a specific breakdown from Victoria for the past few years, with that data set marked as incomplete. Year-on-year comparisons are therefore only indicative at a national level.

These developments complicate year-on-year comparisons and make it difficult to attribute changes in expenditure to any single cause.

The report also covers government revenue, with states collecting taxes and levies from gambling activities, but those receipts remain distinct from customer losses and operators’ profits.

It cautions that jurisdictions have different systems, processes and reporting methods, advising that “care should be taken when comparing data between jurisdictions”.

The 25-year series offers a longer view of the market’s evolution, although changes in the availability of betting products, taxation arrangements and reporting coverage complicate direct comparisons between the earliest figures and the latest results.

Statistics in the 478-page report provide a benchmark for tracking future movements in gambling expenditure, but cannot reveal how losses are distributed among individuals or whether changes reflect shifts in participation, spending by regular customers or movement between products.

Nor do the aggregate figures establish whether regulatory changes have reduced gambling-related harm. 

For wagering operators and racing authorities, the latest results indicate the direction of the broader betting landscape, not a definitive assessment of racing’s financial performance.

Editor’s note: The 41st edition of Australian Gambling Statistics, published by the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office, covers regulated gambling turnover, expenditure and government revenue from 1999/00 to 2024/25.