Singaporeans spent a record SG$9.2 billion (US$6.8 billion) on lotteries and sports betting in the financial year ended 31 March 2022, an increase of 43% over the previous year, while casino entry level collections of SG$125 million (US$92 million) also represented a four-year high.
According to information released by Singapore’s Tote Board this week, the amount spent on lotteries and sports betting was up from SG$6.6 billion (US$4.9 billion) in FY21, which was impacted by COVID-19 closures, but also 14% higher than the previous high of SG$8.1 billion (US$6.0 billion) in FY19.
The SG$125 million collected by the Tote Board in casino entry levies in FY22 represented an increase on the SG$114 million (US$84 million) collected a year earlier and was broadly in line with the SG$124 million (US$91.5 million) collected in FY19.
Although lower than the SG$131 million (US$97 million) collected in FY18, FY22 represented the first time since Singapore collected SG$193 million (US$142 million) in 2012 that entry levy collections had increased year-on-year – having fallen every year since. This was despite Singapore’s casinos – Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa – having been closed at various times throughout the year due to COVID-19 and implementing strict capacity restrictions through much of 2021.
Singapore’s former Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) also imposed a 50% increase in casino entry levies in 2019 as part of expansion agreements signed with operators Las Vegas Sands and Genting Singapore. The GRA reported shortly afterwards that the increased levy had resulted in a substantial decline in the number of local citizens and residents visiting casino floors.
Also up by 65% in FY22 was horse racing, which attracted bets of SG$818 million (US$603 million). The popularity of horse racing has been in decline in Singapore in recent years, with total bets having fallen from SG$1.7 billion (US$1.25 billion) in FY12 to SG$1.1 billion in FY19, then down to SG$496 million (US$366 million) during COVID-impacted 2021.
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