Both the overall participation rate in gambling activities and the overall percentage of problem and pathological gamblers has remained stable in recent years, a Hong Kong University survey says.

The Home Affairs Bureau commissioned the study which the Ping Wo Fund financed.

Comprising a telephone survey and a youth survey from March to May, the study assesses Hong Kong people's participation in different kinds of gambling activities and their gambling behaviour.

Survey results

In the telephone survey, 2,093 people were interviewed and 81.1% of them participated in gambling activities last year.

About 80.4% participated in legal gambling while 2.1% took part in illegal gambling. The three most popular forms of gambling in the city were Mark Six, social gambling and horse racing.

Around 2.2% called themselves pathological gamblers while 3.1% believed they are problem gamblers.

In the youth survey, 1,939 students from secondary schools and Vocational Training Council's secondary school were interviewed. About 32.3% of them participated in gambling activities last year.

The three most popular forms of gambling were social gambling, Mark Six, and football betting with Hong Kong Jockey Club.

About 1.5% called themselves pathological gamblers while 1.1% believed they are problem gamblers. For details of the survey results, click here.

Illegal gambling rate drops

Commenting on the results, the bureau said the overall participation rate in gambling remains stable, but there was a decline in the overall participation rate in illegal gambling activities.

The fact that some people are participating in both legal and illegal gambling activities demonstrates the need for continued efforts to combat illegal gambling, it added.

The decline in the rate of participation in football betting with local illegal and offshore bookmakers reflects how the betting demand was significantly diverted to authorised channels after legal football betting was introduced in 2003.

The bureau said there might be a modest increase in the estimated number of pathological gamblers in society, but the overall percentage share of problem and pathological gamblers in the community remained stable.

This pointed to a continued need to provide appropriate remedial services for problem and pathological gamblers, it added.

The bureau said it commissioned a study on the effectiveness of the services provided by the two pilot counselling and treatment centres for problem and pathological gamblers. It should be completed next year.

It will take into account the results of this survey, as well as those of the evaluative study, in considering how best to provide services to those who encounter problems with their gambling behaviour.

Anti-gambling education enhanced

The bureau is also concerned about the finding that, of those young people who have gambled, more than half of them had their first experience in gambling at the age of 12 or under.

It considers that there is a need to step up measures to educate children in primary schools about the risks and consequences associated with gambling.

The bureau is also concerned that only slightly more than half of the gambling parents considered reducing their gambling participation to avoid a negative impact on their children.

This indicates that many parents are not aware of their duty to show responsible gambling behaviour to their children and let their children know the risks and negative impact of excessive gambling.

The bureau will explore ways to advise parents against allowing their children to participate in gambling, or betting on their behalf, and on how to educate their children about gambling's risks and associated problems.