New UK gambling data
Date: 2024-09-12 Author: Leon Pierce Categories: EVENTS
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has released its latest statistics, based on a survey of 5,191 UK residents, on the participation of people in the UK in gambling between January and April 2024.
Key figures remain stable
The survey found that overall gambling participation remained at 48%. Some 21% of players said they had only played lotteries in the last four weeks. This means that participation in other forms of gambling, excluding lotteries, was 27%.
Overall, 38% of people surveyed admitted to gambling at least once in the last four weeks. If we exclude those who only played the lottery, this figure drops to 16%. The participation rate in offline gambling during the period was 29%, and excluding lottery games – 18%.
These figures confirm the popularity of lotteries in the UK, with the largest number of respondents – 32% – admitting to having played the National Lottery in the last four weeks. The second most popular was charity lotteries, played by 16% of respondents, followed by scratch tickets (14%), sports betting (9%) and online instant win games (8%).
According to the report, the most active gamblers are men aged 45 to 54, although men aged 35 to 44 were also highly active in gambling.
The main motives for gambling were the desire to win large sums of money and to enjoy the process.
Protecting vulnerable groups in the gambling market
Meanwhile, representatives from the gambling industry attended a GamProtect event to discuss a new player protection scheme and problem gambler database. According to GamProtect chairman Kane Purdy, around 5,000 players have already been enrolled in the program, significantly expanding the industry’s ability to combat problem gambling.
Purdy also refuted criticism of the program, saying it was designed to protect vulnerable groups rather than restrict the rights of responsible gamblers.
In addition, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has launched an investigation into gambling operators’ use of memes for under-18 marketing. The ASA is concerned that such memes may attract minors and is investigating whether such advertising breaches current rules.
