Singapore recorded in 2024 a 5.3-percent year-on-year decline in the number of its citizens and permanent residents who visited the city-state’s casinos, according to the 2024-25 annual report of Singapore’s Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA).
The number of Singapore citizens and permanent residents (SCPRs) who visited the city-state’s casinos stood at about 94,000 in 2024, representing 2.8 percent of the city-state’s adult population. That compares with 99,000 SCPRs who visited local casinos in 2023, according to GRA’s latest annual report.
The report also noted that the number of annual casino entry levies purchased by SCPRs stood at 6,700 in 2024, down 5.6 percent from the previous year.
Singapore has a casino duopoly consisting of Marina Bay Sands, run by a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp, and Resorts World Sentosa, run by Genting Singapore Ltd.
The Singapore authorities announced in April 2019 – at the same time as extending the casino duopoly until 2030 – an increase to the casino entry levies for locals, as part of the city-state’s policy of “minimising the social impact of problem gambling”.
Their 24-hour access fees went from SGD100 (US$77.5) to SGD150, and the annual pass increased from SGD2,000 to SGD3,000.
The latest annual report from Singapore’s gaming regulator also observed that the probable pathological and problem gambling rates among local residents had remained “low and stable” at 1.1 percent, referring to the findings from the 2023 gambling participation survey conducted by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG).
“This is a strong testament to the collective efforts of GRA, the Ministry of Social and Family Development, and the NCPG in mitigating gambling harms,” said GRA’s chairman, Tan Tee How, in remarks included in the annual report.
Mr Tan also made reference to GRA’s November decision of issuing a shortened casino licence tenure to Resorts World Sentosa. The licence – starting from February 6, 2025 – has been renewed for only two years, relative to the permitted maximum of three under the Casino Control Act.
“The casino licence renewals this year demonstrate our commitment to this compliance-first approach: Our decision to issue a shortened licence tenure to Resorts World Sentosa in February 2025 underscores our resolve to use effective regulatory levers to ensure the casino operators meet high regulatory standards while continuing to develop as world-class integrated resorts,” Mr Tan stated.
He also mentioned that the GRA would work with the city-state’s gambling operators to “strengthen their compliance and risk culture”, while making use of artificial intelligence capabilities to enhance “detection of regulatory anomalies”.
“To ensure that our regulatory framework remains effective, we will continue to embrace new technologies, adopt data-driven approaches and recalibrate our regulatory strategies to address emerging challenges,” added the chairman.
