Australians lost A$32.18 billion on legal gambling in 2023-24, the highest total on record, according to QGSO, Australian Gambling Statistics, 40th edition (2023-24 data). That works out at A$1,521 for every adult in the country. Pokies in clubs and hotels took A$16.29 billion of it - just over half of all gambling losses - and even that understates the machines' real share, because pokies on casino floors are counted separately under casino revenue. Every figure below comes from a government statistician, state regulator or named research institute, with its data year stated.
The headline numbers for 2023-24
QGSO's Australian Gambling Statistics collates every state regulator's data; its 40th edition (September 2025) covers 2023-24 and is the latest available.
Where the A$32.18 billion went
Gaming machines in clubs and hotels accounted for A$16.29 billion, a 50.6% share computed from the edition's summary tables. Wagering on racing and sports added A$8.43 billion, lotteries A$3.48 billion, casinos A$3.47 billion and keno A$469 million. The casino line includes casino-floor pokies, so the true machine share of national losses sits above 50.6%. Pokies losses grew 3.35% year on year, faster than the 2.28% for gambling overall.
Losses per adult
Per adult (18 and over), Australians lost A$1,521 on all gambling in 2023-24 and A$770 on club and hotel pokies alone (QGSO, 40th edition). New South Wales leads on both counts, at A$2,007 per adult overall and A$1,273 on pokies.
How Australia compares with the world
Two independent comparisons, seven years apart, reach the same conclusion.
The highest per-adult losses of any country
Grattan Institute, A better bet (2024), using H2 Gambling Capital data for 2022-23, puts Australian losses at about A$1,635 per adult per year - the highest in the world - against A$809 in the United States and A$584 in New Zealand. Grattan's figure differs from QGSO's A$1,521 because year and method differ; quote each with its own source.
A ranking that has not moved in a decade
The Economist said the same in "The world's biggest gamblers" (2017, on 2016 H2 Gambling Capital data), placing Australia first at roughly US$1,000 per adult. H2 figures cited by the Australia Institute (Teenage gambling in Australia, 2025) still rank Australia's roughly A$32 billion a year as the largest per-capita losses of any country.
The machines - where they are and what they earn
Regulator filings put hard numbers on the venues themselves.
New South Wales, the machine capital
NSW clubs and hotels operated 87,855 poker machines in 2025: 65,326 across 1,003 club premises at 31 August 2025, and 22,529 across 1,162 hotels at 30 June 2025 (Liquor and Gaming NSW annual gaming machine reports, 2025). Nationally, Grattan Institute, A better bet (2024) counts about 185,000 machines, roughly 93% of them outside casinos - one machine for every 75 adults. Venue licensing and machine caps are covered in our NSW pokies law guide.
What a single machine earns
Liquor and Gaming NSW annual data (FY2024-25) records A$5.13 billion in net profit (regulator-speak for player losses) from club machines and A$3.93 billion from hotels - about A$9.06 billion combined, on reporting years offset by two months - plus about A$2.53 billion in gaming machine tax. Per machine, the venue gap is stark: the average NSW hotel pokie earned about A$174,600 over the year, 2.2 times the A$78,500 of the average club machine. Across both venue types, the average machine took about A$103,000 - roughly A$282 a day.
Victoria
Victorians lost A$3.15 billion on club and hotel pokies in 2024-25, with taxes and levies of A$1.31 billion, plus A$958 million at the Melbourne casino across its machines and tables - part of more than A$7.3 billion in total Victorian gambling losses (VGCCC gambling data, 2024-25). State rules and caps are covered in our Victorian pokies law guide.
Does Australia really hold most of the world's pokies
The claim is repeated constantly; it needs its data year attached.
What the 2016 World Count shows
The only global census of machines is the Gaming Technologies Association's World Count of Gaming Machines, last fully compiled with 2016 data. As analysed by the Australia Institute in Pokies pub test (2020), it gave Australia 196,054 of the world's 1,076,321 poker machines - 18% - with about 0.3% of the world's population. Counting every machine type including Japan's pachinko, Australia held about 2.5% of the world total, or 6% excluding Japan. Starkest of all, about 183,000 machines in Australian pubs and clubs were roughly 76% of the world's pub-and-club style poker machines; 93% of Australia's machines sit in such venues.
Why the data year matters
No newer full world count exists. Australia's own count has stayed near that band - about 185,000 per Grattan Institute (2024) - but every world-share percentage above is a 2016 figure and should be quoted as such.
Who plays, and how that is shifting
Two national surveys track participation and harm; both moved in 2024-25.
Participation in 2025
ANU Centre for Gambling Research (2025) surveyed adults in January 2025: 14.6% had played the pokies in the past year, up from 12.9% a year earlier, and one adult in three (33%) gambled online.
Harm is rising faster than participation
The same ANU survey put risky gambling - a score of 1 or more on the Problem Gambling Severity Index - at 19.4% of adults, up from 13.7% in 2024 and 11.6% in 2023. Among people gambling at risky levels, 61% gamble online. The AGRC National Gambling Prevalence Study pilot (2024) found 15% of adults - about 3.1 million people - experienced gambling-related harm in the past year, up four points on 2019. Another 5.9% of adults - 15.8% in the 18 to 24 bracket - were affected by someone else's gambling (ANU, 2025).
Turnover is not losses - how to read the big numbers
Australians staked more than A$202.4 billion through gaming machines in 2023-24, the first year machine turnover passed A$200 billion (QGSO, 40th edition). Turnover counts every dollar fed through a machine, including winnings staked again, so it is not money lost. Losses - the A$16.29 billion - are what players left behind. Machine losses come to about 8% of turnover: machines paid back roughly 92 cents of each dollar staked, and our RTP guide explains that mechanic. A report quoting the A$202 billion turnover figure as money "lost" overstates real losses more than twelve-fold.
Key numbers at a glance
| Figure | Value | Source and data year |
|---|---|---|
| Total Australian gambling losses | A$32.18 billion (record) | QGSO, Australian Gambling Statistics, 40th edn (2023-24) |
| Club and hotel pokies losses | A$16.29 billion (50.6% of total) | QGSO, 40th edn (2023-24) |
| Losses per adult, all gambling | A$1,521 (pokies alone A$770) | QGSO, 40th edn (2023-24) |
| World ranking, per-adult losses | Highest, about A$1,635 | Grattan Institute, A better bet (2024; H2 data 2022-23) |
| NSW club and hotel machines | 87,855 | Liquor and Gaming NSW reports (2025) |
| NSW club and hotel machine profit | About A$9.06 billion | Liquor and Gaming NSW annual data (FY2024-25) |
| Profit per machine, hotel vs club | A$174,600 vs A$78,500 | Computed from Liquor and Gaming NSW data (FY2024-25) |
| Share of world's pub-style machines | About 76% | GTA World Count (2016), Australia Institute analysis (2020) |
| Adults experiencing gambling harm | 15%, about 3.1 million | AGRC Prevalence Study pilot (2024) |
Frequently asked questions
Club and hotel pokies took A$16.29 billion from players in 2023-24 (QGSO, Australian Gambling Statistics, 40th edition). That excludes casino-floor machines, which sit under casino losses, so the full machine figure is higher. Across all gambling forms, losses reached a record A$32.18 billion the same year.
New South Wales, by a wide margin: A$8.43 billion in gaming machine losses for 2023-24, ahead of Queensland at A$3.43 billion and Victoria at A$3.03 billion (QGSO, 40th edition). Per adult, NSW also tops the table at A$1,273 on pokies against a national average of A$770.
Not by raw count, but close in one category. The last global census, the GTA World Count of Gaming Machines (2016), gave Australia 18% of the world's poker machines and about 76% of pub-and-club style machines. No newer count exists, so those shares are 2016 figures, not current ones.
About one adult in seven. ANU Centre for Gambling Research (2025) measured pokies participation at 14.6% of adults, up from 12.9% a year earlier; 12% of players now play mostly online. Past-year gambling of any kind sits between 58.8% (ANU, 2025) and 65% (AGRC Prevalence Study pilot, 2024), depending on survey method.
About 185,000 nationally, roughly 93% of them in clubs and hotels rather than casinos - one machine for every 75 adults (Grattan Institute, A better bet, 2024). NSW alone ran 87,855 machines across clubs and hotels in 2025 (Liquor and Gaming NSW reports, 2025).
Responsible gambling
Behind these totals, 15% of Australian adults reported gambling-related harm in the past year (AGRC, 2024). If gambling is costing more than you can afford, or someone else's play worries you, free and confidential support is available around the clock from Gambling Help Online on 1800 858 858. Our responsible gambling page covers deposit limits and self-exclusion. 18+.