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New research shows almost half of people in Britain gamble

28 February 2017

A new Gambling Commission report offers greater insight into gambling participation, attitudes and behaviours in Britain.

The research looks at overall gambling participation and perceptions in 2016, as well as how people gamble online, the devices they use and the influence of social media.

Figures also explore consumer interest and awareness around terms and conditions, self-exclusion and other gambling management tools.

James Green, programme director said: “This report paints an important picture of how consumers in Britain choose to gamble – identifying emerging trends and potential risks to the public. We are also now able to provide a more detailed snapshot of online behaviours, which featured for the first time last year.

“Effective protections come from strong evidence. Our research puts us in a powerful position to better understand the needs of gambling consumers.”

Headline findings include:

  • 48% of respondents have gambled in the past four weeks (a 3% increase on 2015), this figure drops to 33% when you exclude those that have only played the National Lottery
  • of those surveyed, 53% of men (50% in 2015) and 44% of women (41% in 2015) have gambled
  • 17% of people that gambled did so online, with 97% of online gamblers gambling at home (unchanged from last year)
  • use of mobile phones or tablet devices to gamble has increased by 10% since 2015, to 43%
  • 23% of gamblers have read terms and conditions
  • 68% of 18-24 year olds have been prompted to gamble by adverts and posts on social media
  • 0.7% of those that have gambled in the past 12 months identified as problem gamblers (compared to 0.5% in 2015), with 5.5% identified as at-risk gamblers
  • 6% of gamblers have ever self-excluded, an additional 37% of gamblers are aware of self-exclusion, an increase of 8% from 2015
  • gambling on gaming machines in bookmakers has remained stable at 1.5% (compared to last year)
  • 67% of respondent’s think people should have the right to gamble whenever they want
  • 78% of respondents feel there are too many opportunities to gamble nowadays, whilst 69% feel gambling is dangerous for family life
  • Following our work with the Competitions and Markets Authority into unfair terms and conditions, respondents were asked why they felt terms were unfair. The top three areas of concern were:
  • having to wager a certain amount before you can claim prize/winnings
  • unfair limits on the availability of/qualifying for a free bet
  • it being too difficult to win or in the companies favour.

Downloads

Gambling participation - Behaviours, awareness and attitudes (opens in new tab)

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Last updated: 3 November 2022

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Following an audit the 'Gambling participation - Behaviours, awareness and attitudes' link has been updated.

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