Finland has a worsening gambling problem

Finland has been trying to clean up the country’s gambling industry, introducing new regulations to help oversee gambling activities. According to a recent survey, though, those efforts may not be enough and lawmakers, as well as gambling operators, need to get more involved in order to protect Finnish gamblers.

Over the past couple of years, gambling addiction and problem gambling in Finland has continued to rise, according to the survey, which was commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The ministry had sought to determine how merging the three state-run gambling operators into one entity had impacted gambling and gamblers. The study was ultimately conducted by the Institute for Health and Welfare in conjunction with Helsinki University, Statistic Finland and Peliklinikka, a problem gambling prevention organization.

The survey saw participation from around 2,600 Finnish citizens aged 18 and older. Yle, a Finnish media outlet, points out that problem gambling among males has declined over the past several years, but gambling addiction and problem gambling has become more severe.

In 2017, Veikkaus was running the country’s national lottery. It merged with gaming machine operator RAY and horse betting operator Fintoto that year, ostensibly to provide better oversight of gambling activity in Finland and to reduce the instances of excessive gambling.