Italians, people of gamblers: +78% in 10 years

A total collection of 84 billion in 2013, rising to 136 billion in 2022 and 150 in 2023

ROME – A total collection of 84 billion in 2013, rising to 136 billion in 2022 and 150 in 2023. In ten years the collection in gaming gambling in Italy grew by 78%, while the money lost by Italians, almost 22 billion in 2023, grew by 30% in the same period. Ten years in which there were also two years of pandemic (which led to the temporary closure of activities) and a heavy economic crisis, which significantly reduced the purchasing power of wages.

150 MILLIONS ARE 89% OF FOOD EXPENDITURE

But how much is 150 billion in collection? They are equivalent to 89% of Italians’ food expenditure, estimated for 2023, and 5 times the amount of the 2024 budget law. Health spending in 2023, for example, amounts to 131.1 billion. As for the 22 billion lost in gambling by Italians, it is as if the net annual income of over 1,100,000 full-time workers, of good level and seniority, with a monthly paycheck were completely eliminated net around 1,500 euros. Numbers that would rise dramatically with other examples, given the average salaries in some sectors. Regarding online gambling, 82 billion were raised online during 2023; there were 49 in 2020. In four years there has been a growth of 67%.

EVERY ITALIAN SPENDS 1926 EUROS IN GAMBLING

During 2023 every Italian between the ages of 18 and 74 (the range in which almost all players are concentrated) invested 1,926 euros in gambling. A figure that obviously needs to be adjusted to real players, those who have played online with varying frequency. This is what emerges from the second edition of The Black Book of Gambling. Mafias, addictions, young people’ (2024 edition), the Report on gambling in Italy signed by Federconsumatori and national CGIL and edited by Federconsumatori Modena, in collaboration with the Isscon Foundation. The presentation took place today in Rome at the CGIL headquarters in Corso d’Italia 25. The methods of online gambling allow a good territorial mapping of the sums invested. The Report states that there is a widespread belief that people bet more where incomes are higher. But if you look at the maps and diagrams you discover that it is exactly the opposite: Campania, Sicily and Calabria in 2023 broke through the wall of 2 thousand eurosplayed online per capita( including newborns). Molise, Puglia and Basilicata will probably do so in 2024. The citizens of Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige play online, per capita, a third of what they play in Campania. In the south and on the islands we spend exactly double than in the north. The three provinces at the top of the online gambling rankings are Sicilian: Messina, Palermo, Syracuse, with over 3,200 euros for each resident aged 18-74 in 2023. Closely followed by Isernia, Taranto and Reggio Calabria. Naples, Salerno, Caserta and Crotone conclude the top 10 places. Remaining above 2 thousand euros only in 29th place we find the first northern province, Imperia, followed by La Spezia and Savona. A condition, that of Liguria, that deserves attention.

THE CITIES THAT SPEND THE MOST

Among the regional capitals in the lead we find Reggio Calabria, followed byPalermo, Naples, Bari and Cagliari. Particularly high numbers also in Rome, with 2,213 euros for each resident aged 18-74, and a +13% on 2022. Rome is also the capital in another figure: 4.4 billion played online alone. Milan also grows by 12%, and reaches 1,796 euros. Florence is further behind, but stands out for the very strong increase recorded in 2023, with a +43% compared to 2022, which is difficult to understand. As regards the provincial capitals, the ranking opens with the incredible record of Isernia, which in the space of a year went from a remarkable 2,686 euros in 2022 to a good 4,143 euros per capita in 2023 (age class 18- 74 years old). Not far away are Crotone and Reggio Calabria, then the Sicilian trio made up of Syracuse, Messina and Catania; this time too, in addition to 30th place, we find the Ligurian provinces. Coming to the Italian municipalities with more than 10 thousand inhabitants, the ranking is led by a Salerno municipality, Castel San Giorgio, in the Sarno Valley. A ‘Libera’ garrison is active in the Municipality, dedicated to Marcello Torre, mayor of Pagani for a few months, before being murdered by Cutolo’s assassins on 11 December 1980. It has 13,700 inhabitants and recorded 11,883 euros per capita in 2023 ( age group 18-74 years): thirty times the figure for many municipalities in the Veneto. With 8,946 euros per capita, Rocca Priora follows, in the province of Rome, just 30 km from the Campidoglio. Third place goes to a municipality in the Bologna area, Zola Predosa, which had already been reported in the recent report by Federconsumatori Emilia-Romagna, as the ‘peak’ in regional gambling crises in 2022. In 2023, with further growth , in a municipality 11 km from the Due Torri, 7,884 euros were reached per resident aged 18-74 in remote gambling alone; five times more than in Bologna. The presence in the top places of another municipality close to the capital, Calderara di Reno, accentuates the problems of the Bolognese area. Above 6 thousand euros, the Taranto municipality of Martina Franca is in fourth place; an area with a strong presence of organized crime and a Municipality where, until the data was provided, records were also recorded in physical gaming. Finally, in fifth place, in an area with a strong presence of organized crime, there is Formia, in the province of Latina.