Gambling Addiction in Japan

In an article I saw the following statement on Japanese pachinko industry. "There are 3.2 million gambling addicts in Japan"

But this is not accurate.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced the latest survey result this year as follow:

There are 3.2 million people who have been in a state suspected of being a gambling addiction at some point in their lifetime. 

There are 700,000 people who have been in a state suspected of being a gambling addiction in their past year.

The adult population in Japan is about 100 million people. In other words, only 0.7% of adults are suspected of gambling addiction. Compared with the United States and the UK, this is not a big number.

by　Tsuyoshi Tanaka, editor