Danish market reports worrying numbers of problem gamblers

Denmark has long been praised as a hallmark of what the European gambling industry should be like. In fact, the European Gaming and Betting Association and the European Commission commend Denmark as the only market in the European Union where all industry standards are kept to a T.

But a new report by the Danish Gambling Authority DGA paints a less rosy picture, one in which 29,500 adult Danish citizens are actually struggling with severe problem addiction or gambling-related problems. This amounts to 0.67% of the Over-18 population and is a serious problem for the country, which has prided itself on some of the toughest and most efficient gambling measures.

According to the study, the number of problem gamblers has risen by 76% in the past five years alone, chalking some of this negative increase to the pandemic and exposure to offshore gambling brands. The DGA is already looking into what pushes people into such extremes, with a study commissioned in 2021 now completed.

To establish how seriously a person was impacted, the DGA used a standardized metric known as the Problem Gambling Severity Index. With its help, the authority was able to determine how many people were at "severe" risk of problem gambling and how many have already gone too far. More worryingly, children were too found to have some sort of a problem gambling, with 6% of participants reporting a low level of gambling issues, or worse.

A small breakthrough for the study was that most adults would start gambling between the ages of 18 and 24 and it would be then that they would establish healthy or unhealthy habits about how to approach the activity in the future. The seriousness of the issue is now being discussed as a part of a new framework that would seek to actively assist problem gamblers and begin a new course towards tackling the issue.

Image credit: spillemyndigheden.dk