UK Gambling Commission releases latest prevalence stats
News on 12 Feb 2013
News on 12 Feb 2013
The UK Gambling Commission has published its latest gambling prevalence stats, noting the following ICM Research findings from the four quarterly surveys conducted in the year to December 2012.
Gambling participation in the past four weeks
* An average of 57 percent of respondents had participated in at least one form of gambling in the previous four weeks, ICM found.
* Slightly more males than female respondents had participated in gambling in the previous four weeks (60 percent of males and 55 percent of females).
* An average of 14 percent of respondents had participated in at least one form of online gambling in the previous four weeks.
* A larger proportion of male than female respondents had participated in online gambling in the previous four weeks (16 percent of males and 12 percent of females).
* The National Lottery remained the biggest attraction. If those respondents only playing the National Lottery online are excluded, the proportion of respondents who had participated in online gambling falls to 8 percent over the past four weeks.
* 46 percent of respondents said their most popular gambling activity was the National Lottery, followed by other lotteries (12 percent) and scratchcards (11 percent).
* No other individual gambling activity was participated in by more than 4 percent of respondents.
* Overall, 75 percent of gamblers over the past 4 weeks had gambled ‘in person only’.
* A further 13 percent had done so both ‘online’ and ‘in person’, and only 11 percent had gambled ‘online only’.
* Participating ‘online only’ was the most popular method of gambling for sports betting, betting on other events, spread betting and casino games.
* Among past four week bettors, betting in person at a bookmakers was the most common option for all types of betting activity except betting on non-sports events.
* Over half of the respondents said they gambled just ‘once a week.’
http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/pdf/Gambling%20participation%20-%20activities%20and%20mode%20of%20access%20-%20January%202013.pdf
For the year commencing end December 2012 to end December 2013, the Commission reported that:
* Over the year starting end December 2012, and in relation to all gambling participation (including by remote means), respondents revealed that 55.3 percent of the 4,000 adults surveyed had participated in at least one form of gambling in the previous four weeks, slightly down on the comparable number of 57.3 percent in 2011; the 2010 calendar year figure of 55.5 percent and the 2009 calendar year figure of 55.2 percent.
* The most popular gambling activity was National Lottery tickets (45.5 percent of respondents), followed by National Lottery scratchcards (12.2 percent) and tickets for society or other good cause lotteries (8.8 percent).
* Those participating in gambling were more likely to be male than female, and were more likely to be aged over 45.
* Remote (online, TV interactive and mobile) gambling participation showed that just 12 percent of the 4,000 adults surveyed said they had participated in at least one form of remote gambling in the previous four weeks. This figure compares with the 2011 calendar year figure of 12.4 percent, the 2010 figure of 11.1 percent, the 2009 figure of 10.5 percent, the 2008 figure of 9.7 percent, the 2007 figure of 8.8 percent and the 2006 figure of 7.2 percent.
* Over half of these had participated only in National Lottery products. If those only playing National Lottery products remotely are excluded, 4.9 percent of respondents had participated in remote gambling in the year to December 2012, compared with the figure of 6.1 percent in 2011, 5.7 percent in 2010, 5.7 percent in 2009, 5.6 percent in 2008, 5.2 percent in 2007 and 5.1 percent in 2006.
* Those participating in remote gambling were more likely to be male than female, and were more likely to be aged 18-44.
* Remote gambling via a computer, laptop or handheld device was most popular (10.8 percent of all respondents), followed by gambling via mobile phone (3.4 percent) and interactive/digital TV (0.9 percent).
Gamblers’ perceptions
This is another interesting aspect studied by the Commission’s researchers. These questions measure how far people in this UK think; firstly that gambling is fair and can be trusted and secondly that gambling is associated with criminal activity:
* For the year 2012 48.5 percent of the 4,000 adults surveyed agreed that gambling in Britain is conducted fairly and can be trusted. This compares with 49.3 percent in 2011, 48.4 percent in 2010, 49.6 percent in 2009, and 48.8 percent in 2008.
* Over the same period, 39.6 percent of the 4,000 adults surveyed agreed with the statement that gambling in this country is associated with criminal activity. This compares with 36.5 percent in 2011, 36.9 percent in 2010, 41.3 percent in 2009 and 42 percent in 2008.
* Participation in gambling is associated with a more positive perception of gambling, with past-year gamblers more likely than past-year non-gamblers to agree that gambling is conducted fairly and can be trusted (57.3 percent compared with 31.2 percent respectively) and less likely to associate gambling with criminal activity (36.5 percent and 45.3 percent respectively).
* The category of crime that respondents most associate with gambling is ‘Thefts committed by gambling addicts to support their addiction’ (14.7 percent of respondents), followed by ‘Money laundering’ (7 percent), ‘Other’ (5.5 percent) and ‘Violent Crime’ (4.8 percent).
http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/pdf/Survey%20data%20on%20public%20perceptions%20of%20gambling%20-%20January%202013.pdf
