Rising Gambling Addiction in Ukraine
Over the past year, Ukraine has seen a worrying rise in gambling addiction cases. The Register of Gamblers now lists 12,807 individuals.
This information was released by "Opendatabot".
During the last year, the Register increased by 9,389 individuals, while 1,496 were removed due to the expiration of their restriction period.
According to "Opendatabot", since the creation of the Register, a total of 14,979 people have been recorded, of which 2,172 have already been removed.
It is noted that 99% of all entries in the Register are voluntary requests. Individuals submit applications for self-restriction to temporarily close their access to gambling establishments and participation in gambling activities. The restriction period ranges from six months to three years.
Meanwhile, only 1% consists of individuals whose access has been restricted by the decision of KRAIL. Throughout the existence of the register, there have been 169 such decisions, nearly all occurring last year.
Last year, an average of 780 people were added to the register each month, which is 2.8 times more than in 2023, when the list was updated by approximately 280 individuals per month. The highest number of self-restriction requests was recorded in April – 1,041, while the lowest was in June – 524.
In the first two months of 2025, 1,719 individuals have already been added to the Register, averaging 860 per month – a 10% increase compared to 2024.
Opendatabot emphasized that currently, there is no clear statistics on the actual number of citizens with gambling addiction in Ukraine, and the figures from the respective register do not reflect the full picture, particularly regarding individuals playing at online casinos.
