HomeInsightsGambling Commission publishes research featuring online gambling trends for first time.

New figures providing better insight into gambling behaviour in Britain have been published by the Gambling Commission.

The research covers participation in gambling, perceptions of gambling and rates of problem gambling.  For the first time, the research also includes information about how people gamble online: the devices they use to gamble, where they gamble, and the number of accounts they use.

Findings include:

  • participation in gambling has fallen from 57% in 2012 to 45% in 2015. This can be attributed to National Lottery draw participation dropping from 46% to 32% in the same period;
  • National Lottery draws remain by far the most popular gambling activity followed by other lotteries and scratchcards;
  • rates of problem gambling are the same as in 2014 and 2015, remaining at 0.5%;
  • those aged 18-24 are most likely to be problem gamblers (1.1%), and 1% of men were problem gamblers in 2015 compared with 0% of women;
  • 25-34 year olds are most likely to use mobile and tablet devices, bet in-play and gamble outside of the home; and
  • laptops are the preferred devices among all age groups for online gambling while those aged under 45 are most likely to use mobiles or tablets to gamble in addition to laptops.

To read the Gambling Commission’s press release in full and to access the research, click here.