Online gambling in the UK continues to grow
News on 20 May 2015
News on 20 May 2015
Britain’s Gambling Commission has issued supplementary information on gambling participation over the period 2008 to 2014, revealing that UK online gambling participation increased by an average of 8.3 percent per annum over the period…an aggregate increase over the five years of 50 percent.
In 2008 the online participation percentage was recorded as 9.7 percent, whilst as at December 2014 this had grown to 15.4 percent.
Taking the same 2008 vs. 2014 comparative, participation by male online gamblers rose from 11.7 percent to 18 percent, and females from 7.8 percent to 12.8 percent.
Males overwhelmingly dominated sports betting activity, and the rise of mobile gambling technology has undoubtedly influenced overall growth in participation, the new assessment observes..
The study found that there was a correlation in the movement of the national consumer price index and participation in online gambling, calculating that for each 1 percent increase in the CPI, participation grew 2.3 percent.
In common with previous industry studies on the demographics of online gambling, the latest assessment concludes that the genre tends to attract a more affluent and better educated strata of society, and has continued to do so over the comparison period, with top earning category participants increasing from 11.9 percent in 2008 to 18.7 percent in 2014.
The participation of players in the lower economic groups grew at a far slower rate of 5.6 percent in 2008 to 9.3 percent in 2014.
In terms of education, university graduates are 44.6 percent more likely to participate in online gambling; interestingly this better educated group is 35.4 percent less likely to gamble on the much maligned and controversial FOBTs in betting shops, and 21.8 percent less likely to spend money on lottery scratch cards.
Finally, the study found that there has been a significant increase in online gambling in the 35 to 54 age group, which is closing in on the once dominant 18 to 34 age group.
