AGIC, the association bringing together the main concession operators in the public gaming sector, expresses strong concern over the data contained in the 2026 Report to Parliament on addiction, which documents an increase in minors’ involvement in gambling — a phenomenon that is by definition illegal, given the ban on access for minors — and a broader spread of behavioural addictions, from digital addiction to online and land-based gambling.

The numbers are clear: according to the Report, in 2025, 60% of students gambled at least once in the previous year, with the share of “at-risk” and “problematic” profiles increasing compared with 2024. These are figures that AGIC has no intention of downplaying: they confirm that the problem exists, affects increasingly younger age groups, and requires concrete responses.

Precisely for this reason, the Association reiterates a distinction that the Report itself effectively confirms: underage gambling is, by definition, a phenomenon that takes place outside the legal perimeter, often through channels lacking effective age and identity controls.