A new survey by the UK Gambling Commission appears to show that nearly half of Britons gamble regularly.
The “Gambling Participation Survey,” conducted last year by phone and online among residents 16 and older, found that 48 percent of those who responded had gambled in the previous four weeks, a 3 percent increase over 2015 and a record high for the annual survey.
Excluding the National Lottery, however, the figure dropped to 33 percent.
The percentage of online gamblers remained the same as the previous year, at 17 percent of all people who gambled, while those who engaged in smartphone gambling increased by 10 percent, suggesting an increase in the migration to mobile as a favored wagering platform.
An estimated 0.7 percent of respondents identified as problem gamblers as defined by the Problem Gambling Severity Index, with a further 5.5 percent identifying as at low or moderate risk. This suggests the level of problem gambling in the UK has remained steady since the 1990s, despite a nationwide outcry over increases in the numbers and availability of electronic table games in retail betting shops. However, it has been suggested that problem gamblers are reluctant to self-identify, which means the actual scale of the problem is likely to be higher.
