The proportion of UK adults participating in online gambling, including sports betting, poker, casino and bingo, is at its lowest level since 2007, according to new figures from UK regulator the Gambling Commission.
The statistics published by the Commission show that in the 12 months to the end of September 2012, an average of 5.5% of the 4,000 adults sampled had participated in at least one form of remote gambling in the last four weeks, compared to the 2011 calendar year figure of 6.1%.
The 5.5% figure represents the lowest level of participation recorded by the Gambling Commission since 2007, the year the Gambling Act came into force, when 5.2% of the adults surveyed were found to have taken part in at least one form of remote gambling.
Overall participation in remote gambling however remained stable at 12.4% when National Lottery products were included, by far the most popular form of online gambling in the UK.
The National Lottery aside, online betting on sports and other events remained the most popular form of remote activity in the UK, with 2.9% of the 4,000 adults surveyed by ICM Research - based on an average of the figures for December 2011, March 2012, June 2012 and September 2012 - saying they had spent money on this activity during the last four weeks. This was up from 2.2% for 2011, which lacked a major betting event to compare to this summer’s Euro 2012 football championships.
Just 1.1% of the adult population paid money to participate in other forms of online gambling (including casino, poker and bingo) in the 12 months to the end of September, according to the GC, equal with the proportion of UK adults who used a betting exchange during that time.
Article edited by Stephen Carter
