Inflation & gas crisis: are people playing less?

Climate change, Corona, war in Europe, inflation und now even the gas crisis. We are living in a time which is full of crisis. Many people are already worried about the situation in the cold winter months. Since gas from Russia is being provided in limited quantities, the situation with the gas market is getting worse. But what effects are the multiple crisis situations we are living in leaving on the behaviour of people when gambling?

Now people in Europe are mainly enjoying summer, after the Corona pandemic had impacted the daily life for more than two years. But no one knows what will happen in the coming weeks and months. We are not only fighting a virus anymore, but also an inflation rate like no other, the persisting war attack of Russia on Ukraine as well as the gas crisis which has resulted from the effects of the war. Besides all this, there is also climate change. In February of this year we had reported about the climate project from Gamomat “Gaming for the Climate“

Consumers are facing big challenges

The wholesale price of a megawatt hour of gas in July 2021 was still 36 Euro. Just a year later, on the 25^th of July 2022, the same amount of gas already costs 162 Euro. This signifies a price increase of 350 % within a year. Besides this, Russia has already indicated that the gas quantities could be further reduced in the coming weeks and months. The consumers are having to face additional financially burdens in extreme proportions. Gas prices are not expected to decrease neither in the short term, nor in the long term. It is actually the opposite: experts are assuming that the energy prices in Europe will remain permanently high.

The German Federal Government is for example planning an apportionment in which the suppliers could pass on the respective price increases to the consumers. It is currently expected that gas prices will increase between 1.5 and 3.0 Cent per Kilowatt per hour. The exact amount of the apportionment is however still not been determined. A sample household which consumes 20,000 kWh could be facing extra costs of up to 476 Euro in a year through the gas apportionment.

The gas crisis is also influencing the rate of inflation. The latter has currently reached record levels. It is expected to reach 7.6% in June 2022. Around a year ago the rate of inflation in July 2021 was still at 3,8 %. Therefore, the consumers can now afford much less with their money. Besides the high energy prices, the costs for many other things in life are continuing to increase.

What are the effects of the actual situation on the online gambling market?

Just a few weeks ago, the gambling provider Entain announced in a press release, that there was a significant decrease in the company’s sales. In the first six months of 2022 the decrease in sales for the brands partypoker and bwin reached 7 %. The possible reasons for this negative development in sales are, among other things, the difficult economic situation as well as the difficult trade conditions. In February of this year we had already reported about a study which had forecasted a drop in sales of 45% for the vending industry in the year 2021.

It is a fact that in view of the current situation many consumers have less money in their pockets now. For this reason, it does not seem improbable that even the online gambling market will suffer after a time lag as a result of all these crisis situations. The gambling enthusiasts simply have less money left to spend in unnecessary expenses such as free time entertainment.

Conclusion

We are currently living in challenging times. Besides the war in Europe, we will by winter have to struggle and bear the effects of the gas crisis which has been triggered by the same war. Many consumers are worrying about the energy prices which seem to be exploding and are thus worried that they will soon not be able to have their own four walls heated. Besides all this one must add the inflation, the climate change and the Corona pandemic which has still not disappeared from the world. Viewing this situation with optimism will not be easy.

Image Source: https://pixabay.com/de/illustrations/gas-gas-pipeline-gasindustrie-7308559/