By Morgan Harrington, Matt Saunders
The latest data from the National Accounts shows that gambling losses reached a new, all-time high of $36 billion in the 2025-26 financial year. Losses went up by $1.2b more than in 2024-25, which is the biggest increase in three years.
Figure 1: Gambling losses jackpotted to a new record high in 2025-26 of $36 billion
Source: ABS (2026) Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, Table 8, https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/national-accounts/australian-national-accounts-national-income-expenditure-and-product/latest-release
On a per-person basis, Australians gamble more, and lose more, than people in any other country in the world. As the biggest overall gamblers…