A recent study says that close to six in every 10 adults in Singapore oppose legalising online gambling, making them the fourth most opposed country in the world, according to a study ‘Global Gambling 2022: The consumer view in the gambling debate’ by YouGov, a research and analytics company.

The study found that 56 per cent of Singaporeans believe that online gambling should not be legalised, which is significantly above the world’s average of 46 per cent, and only India and Spain with 57 per cent, and China with 56 per cent have a higher or similar resistance to the idea.

The YouGov report’s objective is to find out how the consumers of gambling and those who do not take part in it, look at gambling and its place in society. It is carried out across 18 international markets and covers a few decisive areas of debate related to gambling, from the launching of sports-related betting and opportunities online, to matters that have surfaced related to gambling advertising, the existence of the lottery in the public eyes, place of gambling based on land post-pandemic and the legality of gambling.

The data around the Asian country found that elder generations oppose the idea of online gambling much more strongly with 68 per cent of Baby Boomers, as compared to 62 per cent of Gen X Singaporeans, 44 per cent of Millennials and 45 per cent of Gen Z. 

25 per cent of survey participants said that the current rules and regulations in the country were too stringent, while 40 per cent disagreed with that argument. And 28 per cent of Gen Z and Gen X Singaporeans agreed with it. Meanwhile, the gaming revenues in the country have now reached 70% of what they were prior to the onset of the pandemic.

Taking a look at the degree of opposition in other countries, Australia has 53 per cent, Italy has 52 per cent, Sweden has 47 per cent, Great Britain and Hong Kong have 46 per cent and Germany has 43 per cent.