Statistics South Africa’s latest survey on the personal services industry shows a disturbing trend: the extraordinary growth in income from gambling services.The personal services industry includes the education, health, entertainment and recreation sectors. Five years ago, in 2018, services in health and education generated about 70% of the income in the personal services industry. That decreased to 56% in 2023.The results of the latest survey, conducted in 2023, show that recreational, cultural and sporting activities (the category that includes betting and gambling services) generated 37% of the total income generated by the personal services industry, which was estimated at R688-billion.The bubbles in the chart above show the services in the sporting and other recreational activities category only (ie, not cultural). The total income for this category is estimated at R209-billion in 2023. The gambling and betting services, which are in shades of green, grew from a combined income of R25-billion in 2018 to R191-billion in 2023.