Overview
- The Plan Nacional sobre Drogas’ ESTUDES 2025, based on 35,256 students surveyed from February to June 2025, reports declines from pandemic-era peaks in problematic pornography and some internet and social media use.
- Gambling participation reached new highs in 2025, with 13% of students betting online and 20.9% doing so in person, higher than in 2023 and 2021.
- About 5% of students show signs of problematic gambling (up from roughly 4% in 2023), with risk concentrated online and far higher among boys (20.7% online vs 5.3% of girls; 29.5% in person vs 12.3%).
- Treatment admissions for behavioral addictions totaled 4,916 in 2023, with 81% related to gambling and 87% involving men, according to official indicators.
- Regional snapshots underscore the trend, with Galicia reflecting similar increases and Santa Fe, Argentina, reporting a 27% national rise in compulsive-gambling consultations and high use of the Línea 141 helpline.