UK Gambling Commission releases latest Gambling Participation survey results

This story was published more than 13 years ago.

The U.K. Gambling commission's latest quarterly Gambling Participation survey results (pdf file) are in, showing once again that remote (online) gambling by UK players has not increased since last year, and that most internet punters bet on the National Lottery.

The latest survey studied 7000 respondents and found that 54.3% of them had participated in some form of gambling (2009: 55.2%) and of that 54.3% only 10.5% had participated in internet or remote gambling.

The omnibus surveys were conducted by ICM Research, a member of the British Polling Council, telephonically and the final report is based on two separate sets of questions.

The first set of questions measured participation in all types of gambling activity (including remote gambling) and the second set measured participation in remote forms of gambling (gambling through a computer, mobile phone or interactive/digital TV).

Each survey is conducted once a quarter (in March, June, September and December) with a nationally representative sample (in terms of age, gender, social classification and region) of adults (over 18-year-olds).

Key Findings of the Remote Gambling Report include:

  • During the year to September 2010 an average of 10.5% of respondents said they had participated in at least one form of remote gambling in the previous four weeks. This compares with the same figure of 10.5% in 2009, 9.7% in 2008, 8.8% in 2007 and 7.2% in 2006.
  • The growth in participation in remote gambling is explained very largely by increased online participation in the National Lottery. If those only playing National Lottery products remotely are excluded, 5.7% of respondents had participated in remote gambling in the year to September 2010, compared with the same figure of 5.7% in 2009, 5.6% in 2008, 5.2% in 2007 and 5.1% in 2006.
  • A larger proportion of male than female respondents had participated: 12.6% of males and 8.5% of females.
  • Those participating in remote gambling were more likely to be aged between 18-24 (13.3%), 25-34 (16.9%) or 35-44 (13.5%).
  • Respondents aged 55-64 and 65+ remain least likely to have participated.
  • Remote gambling via a computer, laptop or handheld device was most popular (9.5% of all respondents), followed by gambling via mobile phone (2.7%) and interactive/digital TV (1.4%).

Most popular remote gambling activities:

  • The most popular remote gambling activity was the National Lottery draw (8.3%).
  • Betting (2.7%) and National Lottery scratch cards (2.3%) were the next most popular.
  • Other lotteries were next (2.0%),
  • Followed by poker rooms and tournaments (1.2%) and bingo (1.1%).
  • For all other activities, participation was less than 1%.

Source: InfoPowa News