The number of gaming machines installed worldwide grew marginally in 2019, up 0.39% to 7,431,125, according to the annual count of gaming machines conducted by Australia’s Gaming Technologies Association (GTA).
The GTA, organizer of the annual Australasian Gaming Expo held in Sydney each August, first published its World Count of Gaming Machines in 1999 in response to what it describes as “unfounded and exaggerated figures that were circulating at that time.”
The report is compiled based on statistics sourced from regulatory bodies, government sources, private company research, gaming industry bodies and directly from locations where machines are installed. It includes slot machines, video lottery terminals, video gaming machines, pachinko and pachislot machines and Electronic Table Games (ETGs).
According to this year’s count, the top four countries by total number of machines remain unchanged in 2019 with Japan’s 4,195,930 machines placing it well out in front of the United States (900,704), Italy (407,267) and Germany (245,000). Spain has climbed one spot into fifth (212,153), with Australia dropping to sixth (192,800).
Australia was estimated to have 192,800 machines installed in 2019, a reduction of 3,501 machines from the previous year and comprising 2.59% of the world’s legally installed machines.
“The 2020 edition of GTA’s annual worldwide survey of gaming machine numbers once again dispels myths around the proportion of gaming machine numbers in Australia,” said GTA CEO Chris Muir.
“The machines that are counted in this survey are those that are legally installed. The count is only based on the numbers of machines that can be verified. The survey also includes additional information, such as Maximum Bet limits.
“This survey confirms that Australian gaming machines have some of the world’s lowest maximum bet limits which is consistent with what we have found in previous surveys.”
The full report can be accessed by clicking here.
