Increase in UK online gambling

August 2, 2015

The Gambling Commission has published the latest figures from its quarterly statistical series that indicates the participation by adults in remote gambling in the UK, including online gambling. The improved measure, published for the first time in February 2015, allows the Commission to distinguish between the full range of remote gambling methods, personal computer, mobile phone and interactive TV.

The survey shows that, during the year from July 2006 to June 2015, 8.6% of the 8,000 adults surveyed over the year had participated in at least one form of remote gambling in the previous month. The figure for the same period in 2006 was 7.4%. The remaining 91.4% of surveyed adults in the 2015 figure said they had not participated in any form of remote gambling.

Remote gambling using a computer, laptop or handheld device was most popular (6.7%), compared with a figure of 5.2% in 2006. A total of 2.9% of respondents had accessed gambling through a mobile phone in the year to June, compared to 2.2% in 2006 and 1.8% of respondents accessed gambling via interactive/digital TV compared to 1.7% in 2006.

Those participating in remote gambling remain more likely to be male than female, and are likely to be aged 18 – 34.

The figures provided in this series cover all forms of remote gambling. Each wave of the survey is conducted once a quarter and the survey was first published in February 2015. ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 2000 adults aged 18+ by telephone in each quarterly survey wave. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults.

The Gambling Commission was set up under the Gambling Act 2005. It has taken over the role previously played by the Gaming Board for Great Britain in regulating casinos, bingo, gaming machines and lotteries. From 2015 it has been given responsibility for the regulation of betting and remote gambling, as well as helping to protect children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling. It is not responsible for regulating spread betting or the National Lottery which are the responsibility of the Financial Services Authority and the National Lottery Commission.