The gambling regulatory body in the United Kingdom released new figures which it says offer better insight into online gambling trends and behaviour in the country. The report published on the website of the UK Gambling Commission is accompanied by an easy-to-understand infographics and includes information on participation in and perception of gambling and age rates of problem gambling.
In addition, the report for the first time included findings and figures about people betting and gambling on the Internet, namely information about the devices they use to play virtual casino games or bet on sports, where they gamble and the number of accounts they use.
According to the report, the number of UK people engaged in gambling has fallen from 57% in 2012 to 45% in 2015. Participation in National Lottery draw, on the other hand, has gone up from 46% to 32% in the same period. Lottery draws are still quite popular among British residents.
Rates of problem gambling have remained the same (at 0.5%). In addition, people from 18 to 24 years old are highly likely to be problem gamblers. Out of them, 1% are male problem gamblers in 2015 and 0% are female.
Furthermore, gamblers aged 25 and 34 are highly likely to use mobile devices to play games and wager on sports on the go. Laptops are preferred by all players and bettors for virtual gambling with participants aged below 45 are most likely to use both laptops and mobile devices for gambling purposes.
The program director at the Commission, Paul Hope, said that it is very important to correctly follow gambling trends and behaviour in Great Britain. “Findings such as this one are important for us when developing rules and regulations as well as for the government when developing gambling policies,” he added.