Gambling is not immune to inflationary trends. In a survey of U.K. gamblers, 18 percent said they will stop gambling in the coming months due to record inflation, and 32 percent will cut back on how much they spend, according to iGaming Business.
The survey asked 700 gamblers about the impact of rising costs on their gambling activity, after the U.K.’s consumer price index inflation rate rose to 6.2 percent.
Meanwhile, 49 percent said they would spend the same amount on gambling as before, while only 1 percent of respondents said they would spend more.
Of the 351 respondents who reported a decrease, 211 people blamed “pressure on my finances from the cost of living”. In addition, 34 said it was due to a change in personal circumstances, while 80 people said resulted from “different priorities.” A further 34 people said that they were not sure or that they had decreased their gambling for other reasons.
The 700 gamblers were also asked how they spent money these days. More than 11 percent said they were “struggling” to pay their bills and expenses.
A further 43 percent cut back on non-essentials. An additional 38 percent “haven’t had to make significant changes”.
Only 7 percent of gamblers said it hadn’t affected them at all. Out of all gamblers, 35 percent said they set a budget for gambling, while 65 percent said they did not.
“Inflation is at levels not seen for decades and this is translating into a fast-moving affordability crisis for the gambling industry,” DoTrust Chief Executive and founder Charles Cohen said.
Cohen added that in order to deal with this issue, operators need access to greater financial data on their players.
“Wait-and-see is not an option: operators need real-time financial data more than ever,” Cohen said.
