Last month the UKGC (United Kingdom Gambling Commission) released figures for the first time that showed gambling trends and behaviours in the UK.
The report set out to understand people’s participation in gambling, perceptions of gambling and rates of problem gambling in the country.
The poll surveyed 4,000 people via telephone during 2015 and went on to discover information on how people actually gamble online. This extended to finding out: what devices they use to gamble, where they gamble and the number of accounts they use.
stats at a glance
The stand out figures in the report was the fact the the participation in gambling has actually fallen in the UK since 2012, going from 57% in 2012 to 45% in 2015.
This overall decline has been attributed to waning popularity of the National Lottery, a state-franchised lottery that started in the UK back in 1994. Unlike in the US, all prizes are tax-free with 50% of all money spent on National Lottery games going to the prize fund and 28% going to “good causes” that are set out by the British Parliament.
The report showed that participation in the National Lottery dropped from 46% to 32% in the same period (2012-2016) and yet it still remains the most popular gambling activity undertaken by Brits. Other lotteries in the UK along with scratchcards come in close behind it.
A Look Online
When looking at online gambling trends the report clearly shows that the most popular place to gamble is the home. 97% of the 8,000* people polled said they have placed bets at home which will be music to the online gaming operators ears.
When it comes to online gambling it is unsurprising that laptops came out on top as the preferred gambling device followed by mobiles or tablets, with 50% of all 23-34 year olds having used such devices to gamble on.
“Vital to monitor gambling trends”
Gambling Commission programme director, Paul Hope said “it’s vital that we monitor gambling trends and behaviour across society. Reports such as these are essential for us when developing regulations and for the Government when developing public policies on gambling.”
Understanding and analysing these trends will allow regulators to see who are the high risk demographics that are likely to get a gambling addiction. For instance the report found that 18-24 year old are at the most at risk group meaning that the Gambling Commissions will now know that this a group needs educating on the risks of gambling.
Online gambling operators are also doing their part. Several companies are providing information on responsible gambling for their customers making it easier for them to identify gambling addiction and take steps to reduce the likelyhood of problem gambling occurring.
To see the full report with all the findings and infographics you can go to the UKGC website here
*8,000 online surveys were carried out in 2015 in addition to 4,000 telephone-calls.
