The DSWV says that German media are misrepresenting statistics to suggest problem gambling is on the rise.

Germany. The sports betting trade association Deutscher Sportwettenverband (DSWV) has reiterated its claim that German media are misinterpreting statistics to suggest that problem gambling is rising.

It had previously criticised media representations of the rise in the number of people registered on the OASIS self-exclusion system arguing that the rise showed that the rollout of the system had been successful. This time, it has criticised interpretations of a problem gambling prevalence survey that suggested that the number of problem gamblers rose from 400,000 to 1.4 million in 2021, the year that Germany launched its regulated online gambling market.

However, the DSWV said that “such a conclusion is not readily possible” because of a change in the methodology used to conduct the survey. A new organisation, the Institute for Interdisciplinary Addiction and Drug Research (ISD), took over the survey from the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) in 2021. Its methodology included both online and telephone surveys instead of phone surveys alone.

DSWV President Mathias Dahms said: “The evaluation of the State Treaty planned for the end of 2026 must take into account the experience of all stakeholders. Only in this way can the knowledge gained lead to constructive cooperation between all stakeholders for the benefit of customers.