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iGaming per capita expenditure expected to rise 0.9% among Kiwis in 2024

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New Zealand is a unique prospect for casino operators. Its geography means it has the perfect climate for online casinos to flourish. Yet with a small population, it is a demographic that must be captured and retained. All this is set against a backdrop of grey areas in regulation and laws. However, it is expected that this year spending on gambling will rise by 0.9%. In the text below, we delve into this unique situation to see what is taking place in New Zealand's iGaming scene.

How Many People In New Zealand Gamble?

Research has shown that seven out of ten adults in New Zealand gamble at least once a year. The New Zealand Gambling Law Guide conducted this research, which also found that slots, colloquially known as pokies, are the favored form of gambling entertainment. However, the state lottery, horse racing, sports betting, and table games were also popular and included in the statistics.

While it is only a small incremental change, it is expected that the number of people gambling in the country will rise. It is expected that an increase of 0.9% will be spent on gambling entertainment this year. This works out at around $591.28 per player.

New Zealand's Emerging Casino Industry

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The casino industry has been in a state of flux. There are still only six physical casinos in the country. Due to its unique geography, this can make visiting tough for many players. Thus, the online casino industry provides a way for people to play without traveling large distances.

Gambling is presided over by the Department of Internal Affairs. While gambling revenues have had spikes and drops over the last few years, in 2022 New Zealanders spent $528 million on gambling activities. This growth has been spurred on by several initiatives.

One has been the provision of quality New Zealand casino review sites. Operators like Casino Alpha have assisted citizens by robustly reviewing each operator based on several different factors. This has allowed them to provide recommendations of the best casinos to new players. The result is that casinos of a poor standard are slowly weeded out, leaving only the best of the bunch.

Gambling Laws in New Zealand

This has been extremely helpful as gambling online is still not legal in the country. Thus, players have to move to offshore casinos that can provide to those in New Zealand. The Gambling Act was created in 2003 and did not include rules regarding online gambling. This has fostered a grey area in the country, which is usually a magnet for poor-quality, unregulated casinos. This is why it is vital people choose those tested by third-party reviewers.

A subsequent result of this is that when New Zealanders gamble at offshore casinos, the revenue is not taxed. It is estimated that this has cost the government around $140 million per annum.

It is also worth highlighting once again that not all of this is for online casino gambling. The legal gambling portal in the country, MyLotto, is very popular and included in the figures. It provides citizens with the chance to take part in a national lottery.

It is almost inevitable that online gambling laws must be readdressed in New Zealand. Until then, people will have to keep checking third-party reviews for casinos and get the one that is tried, tested, and right for them.