New Survey Reveals Support for Gambling Ad Ban in Lithuania

According to a new survey commissioned by the Lithuanian Gambling Supervisory Authority, the majority of Lithuanians support a ban on advertising gambling products.

The survey of 1001 adults found that in total, 12% of respondents said they gambled – excluding playing lotteries – in the past year, with men aged 29 or under the most likely group to gamble. Meanwhile, 43% played lotteries, down from 51% in the previous year’s survey, with those aged 40-49 most likely to play.

Among those who gambled on non-lottery products, 47% said they did so at slot machine parlours, up from 33% in 2019. Meanwhile, 41% gambled online, compared to 38% in 2019, while 29% bet on sports, down one percentage point, and 26% went to casinos, down 6%.

While just under half of the respondents (47%) said they had seen gambling advertisements, the majority were of the opinion that new controls for marketing should be introduced.

Of those surveyed, 76% said gambling advertising should be reduced, while 52% said it should be banned outright, compared to only 22% who said that lottery advertisements should be banned.

The survey also found that 74% of respondents recognised that gambling can be addictive, while 68% said they were familiar with retail self-exclusion tools. In addition, 53% said that advertisements about the potential dangers of gambling were important.