New Zealand's national gambling survey for 2023/24 provides the clearest picture available of how many people use offshore online gambling services.
The headline numbers
| Measure | Share of population (15+) | Estimated people |
|---|---|---|
| Any overseas online gambling activity in the past 12 months | 3.6% | about 156,000 |
| Played online casino games or online poker with an overseas provider | 1.4% | about 60,000 |
Two caveats matter. The survey population is aged 15 and over, so these are not adult-only estimates. And the broader measure covers any overseas online gambling activity, not casino play alone.
Context: total New Zealand gambling expenditure
DIA's expenditure statistics put total gambling expenditure at NZ$2.792 billion in 2023/24:
| Sector | Expenditure |
|---|---|
| Non-casino gaming machines (pokies in pubs and clubs) | NZ$1.037 billion |
| Lotto NZ | NZ$792 million |
| Casinos | NZ$592 million |
| TAB NZ | NZ$371 million |
Those figures are operator profits and net expenditure, not gross turnover, and they do not include offshore online play.
Why the offshore figure is hard to pin down
A 2024 regulatory impact statement estimated the offshore online casino market at between NZ$300 million and NZ$800 million for 2022/23. That is a policy estimate with a very wide range rather than a measured total, and it illustrates the core problem: offshore activity does not appear in New Zealand reporting.
What the data suggests
Online casino play by New Zealanders is a minority activity but a large one in absolute terms, and it operates almost entirely outside the domestic regulatory framework. That is the gap the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 is intended to close, with a licensed market expected to be fully operational in 2027.