| | |  | Last Updated: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 |  | | | Australians Prefer Gambling Over Drinking
- Wednesday, 2 Nov 2005
Drinking ranks among one of the most popular past time activities in Australia. However, it appears that Australians love gambling more than they do drinking. A survey indicates that Australians spent $17.4 billion on gambling in the course of the last year, while spending $10.6 billion on alcohol consumption. The survey also shows that the average Aussie spends approximately $17 a week on gambling, amounting to 3.5% of the average weekly budget for a family.
Out o the $17 Australians spend on gambling every week, an average of $2 is spent on the race track, while the rest is wagered on lotteries, pools, poker machines and in land based gambling facilities. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, compiled by CommSec indicated that the amount money spent on gambling even supersedes the amount spent on gas. The gambling spending has grown by 5.5% in the past year, in comparison to the total household consumption only grew by 3.3%.
While fears about rising interest rates had caused consumers to cut back on many consumer items, gambling spending had defied the trend. CommSec’s chief equities economist Craig James says, “Gambling doesn’t seem to change too much over economic cycles”. James adds, “It probably actually does a little bit better when people are cutting back in other area”.
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