Both the overall participation rate in gambling activities and the overall percentage of problem and pathological gamblers have remained stable in Hong Kong in recent years, a Hong Kong University survey said Wednesday.

Comprising a telephone survey and a youth survey from March to May, the study commissioned by the Home Affairs Bureau assesses Hong Kong people's participation in different kinds of gambling activities and their gambling behavior.

In the telephone survey, 2,093 people were interviewed and 81.1percent of them participated in gambling activities last year.

About 80.4 percent participated in legal gambling while 2.1 percent took part in illegal gambling. The three most popular forms of gambling in the city were Mark Six, social gambling and horse racing.

Around 2.2 percent called themselves pathological gamblers while 3.1 percent believed they are problem gamblers.

In the youth survey, 1,939 students from secondary schools and Vocational Training Council's secondary school were interviewed. About 32.3 percent of them participated in gambling activities last year.

The three most popular forms of gambling were social gambling, Mark Six, and football betting with Hong Kong Jockey Club.

About 1.5 percent called themselves pathological gamblers while 1.1 percent believed they are problem gamblers.

Commenting on the results, the bureau said the overall participation rate in gambling remains stable, but there was a decline in the overall participation rate in illegal gambling activities.

The fact that some people are participating in both legal and illegal gambling activities demonstrates the need for continued efforts to combat illegal gambling, it added.

The bureau is also concerned about the finding that, of those young people who have gambled, more than half of them had their first experience in gambling at the age of 12 or under. It considers that there is a need to step up measures to educate children in primary schools about the risks and consequences associated with gambling.

(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2005)