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According to a population study conducted by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), in 2023 the majority of people held a negative view towards gambling.
In total, 90% of respondents answered that gambling should be discouraged, while 61% said there are too many opportunities for gambling in today’s climate.
While this might be the case, 67% of responses disagreed that it would be better if gambling was banned altogether and 58% suggested that people should have the right to gamble whenever they want to.
In total, 20% held the view that on balance gambling is good for society, though 55% said gambling is dangerous for family life.
The survey also underlined that 70% of people aged between 15-74 in mainland Finland had gambled in the past 12 months, with gambling being most common among men and those aged 45-59.
One of the findings of the survey was that approximately 151,000 people in mainland Finland have a gambling problem, with the issue being most common among men and young adults.
THL Research Manager Anne Salonen said: “The attitudes towards gambling and several individual questions on the respondents’ opinions reflect a change in attitudes that is in line with the changes that have occurred in gambling. The clearest changes in the decline in gambling and a more critical attitude towards gambling were observed in young adults.
“The opinions expressed by the respondents also revealed that there was a partial opposite trend in the views of women, men and people of different ages.”
At the start of the year, new gambling regulations were introduced in Finland which required mandatory player identification for Veikkaus games.
