Gambling Market Totaled W35 Trillion Last Year (Korea)

(source: Korean Times September 4, 2006)

Gambling Market Totaled W35 Trillion Last Year
By Yoon Ja-young Staff Reporter

South Koreans spent on average 750,000 won last year on gambling and lotteries and some 213,000 people lose their jobs every year due to their addiction to betting, a report said Sunday.

According to a report from the Hyundai Research Institute, the gambling industry grew to 35 trillion won last year, taking 4.4 percent of the gross domestic product. It means each Korean household spent 3 million won on average, at casinos, on horse racing, in video gambling arcades or buying lottery tickets, the report said.

“Though the gambling industry increases employment in the short term, it is not helpful for the job market in the long term as it hurts productivity and economic growth,’’ the report said.

According to the report, casinos, gambling game rooms, horse racing, cycle racing and boat racing created around 204,000 jobs last year. However, these industries are responsible for the unemployment of 213,000 people, it said. Despite its contribution to the job market, the gambling industry is prone to decrease employment in other productive industries.

According to the institute if the gambling industry booms, the income gap tends to widen as most customers are usually from the low-income group. According to the Korea Game Development & Promotion Institute, 43 percent of visitors to gambling game rooms have monthly household incomes of below 2 million won.

Although the industry is a major tax source for local governments, gambling businesses tend to increase social costs, the report said.

Date Posted: 04-Sep-2006