Gambling has become one of the invisible expenses that increasingly weigh on family budgets.
The promise is always the same: a sudden win, the possibility of changing your life with a ticket, a bet or a click on your smartphone. But behind the dream of easy money often lies an opposite reality: less savings, more difficulties and more fragile families.
According to Rapporto CGIL–Federconsumatori–ISSCON Foundation, in 2025 Italians have moved further into gambling 165 billion €, with net losses for citizens equal to approximately 21,9 billion.
It is money that leaves family budgets and is not used for useful consumption, savings or investments.
The phenomenon has been amplified by online gaming: the smartphone has transformed gambling into something always available, accessible to everyone and at any time. There is no longer any need to enter a betting shop: all it takes is an app, a card and a few seconds.
In a country where part of the middle class struggles to make it to the end of the month, even small repeated amounts can become a problem. The risk is that gaming is perceived as a solution to economic problems, when instead it often aggravates them.
How much does it affect families?
For the data "how much it affects families”: 21,88 billion in net losses equates to approx 365 euros per year for each resident in Italy (including children), or beyond 1.000 euros per year for an average family of 3 people as an order of magnitude.
It is a figure that gives a good idea of the economic impact.
Alex Gaetani
Important note The report highlights that the data is partial because there is no full availability of public and detailed data from the Customs and Monopolies Agency. The reduction of territorial information makes it more difficult to photograph the phenomenon and leaves room for estimates reconstructed on incomplete bases. The statistics often end up being fed by operators in the sector as well, while an independent framework would be needed to truly evaluate the social and economic impact of gambling.
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