We reported that the online gaming market grew significantly in the past year the results of a new survey that was ordered by the UK Gambling Commission and was conducted by Populus, shows that 16% of people took part in some kind of online gambling activities. That is one percent more compared to 2015 and the percentage remains roughly the same in the past 4 years.
However, if we have a look at the data for young people aged 18-24 it turns out that only 11% of them were gambling online, whereas in 2015 that percentage was 12% and in 2014 it was 17%. That is a 6pp decrease in just two years. It is even more surprising that there was a rise for every other demographic that was reported.
The increase was the largest for people aged 45-54, 22% a 4% rise compared to last year. 16% of those aged 55-64 were gambling, an increase from 14%, whereas the percentage for seniors was 9%, an increase from 7%.
And if we exclude the people who only play the National Lottery the figures look even worse for the 18-24 category. In that case the decrease is 2 percentage points, whereas an increase was recorded for all other categories, including a 6pp increase for the 45-54 demographic.
And if we include all non-lottery activities, including land-based, young adults were still the least active with 29%, second only to senior citizens whose figure was 27%, but that was a 2pp increase, whereas for young adults the decrease was full 10 points.
Some have linked this with the increased popularity of more skill-based games, claiming that millennials refuse to engage in traditional betting and gambling activities. Others have related this to the difficult financial situation in which many young adults live.