BAGO calls for Belgium lottery age to be increased despite drop in youths’ gambling rate

The report looks at the behaviour of young people across gambling, as well as drug, alcohol and social media use during 2022-23. Young people are classed as those aged 21 or below in Belgium.

While the ongoing prevenance of gambling with youngsters is an issue, the study shows a clear decline longer-term.

Average scratchcard play rate among young people was 9.7% in 2022-23, the lowest rate on record, while lottery play was 5.3% and poker 2.3%, both of which were also all-time lows.

In 2023, 12.4% of the young people surveyed said they had bet on sports at some point, which is a slight decrease compared to the previous year (12.5%). For casino games, a similar slight decline from 5.5% to 5.3% was recorded.

In addition to this, the report uncovered confusion among youngsters over the legal age to gambling in Belgium. Only 77.6% of those surveyed knew they had to be 18 to purchase and play a scratchcard.

On 1 September the country increased its minimum gambling age to 21 for all gambling activities except the national lottery.

Despite the drop in numbers, BAGO, the organisation of private gambling operators in Belgium, flagged what it considered was still a high rate of young people playing the lottery. It called on the minimum age to be increased in line with other verticals.

“We find it illogical that the increase in the minimum age to 21 years does not apply to all National Lottery products and therefore requests equal protection for young people,” BAGO said.

“In addition to control and equal treatment, prevention is an essential part of keeping young people away from gambling.”

Younger age groups a concern in Belgium

Stand-out findings from the survey include scratchcards being the most popular form of gambling among young people. Of those surveyed, 9.7% said they had played scratchcards at some point in the past year.

Sports betting ranked second with a 5.8% play rate, then the lottery with 5.3%. Some 2.4% of young people had played casino games and 2.4% poker.

These trends were similar for long-term behaviour, with 27.2% of young people saying they had played the lottery at some point in their lives. Some 15.7% have participated in lottery games and 12.4% sports betting.

Of real concern in the report was the the rate of underage gamblers. Some 10.1% of those aged 12-14 had played scratchcards in the past year, indicating a higher participation rate than the older age groups (15-16 and 17-18). This increased to 27.9% when asked if they had ever used a scratchcard.

Gambling habits differ by gender

The report also noted the difference in behaviour between males and females, although there was a clear lean towards males in terms of overall gambling participation in the past year.

More males played sports betting, poker, lottery and casino in the past year. Females only ranked higher on scratchcard gaming, outscoring males by 9.8% to 9.6%. Incidentally, scratchcards were the most popular form of gambling across both gender groups.

Longer-term, 29.0% of young females in Belgium have played scratchcards at some point, compared to 25.4% of young males. Sports betting was the next most popular, with 16.6% of males having placed a bet compared to 8.0% of females.