Participation in gambling in Britain fell by 3.5 percentage points to 41.6 per cent in June. At the same time, the rate of gambling-related harm fell to 3.1 per cent.
The figures come from the latest participation and problem gambling survey conducted by the British regulator, the Gambling Commission. The participation rate for the four weeks before the survey was carried out was also down slightly from the 42 per cent reported in the last survey in December 2020.
The rate of gambling participation (the proportion of the population that took part in gambling over the four week period) was down across all ages and gender categories.
The fall was mainly due to a decline in participation in retail gambling, down from 31.8 per cent in 2020 to 24.1 per cent. Online gambling participation actually increased from 16.8 per cent to 17.6 per cent.
The Gambling Commission said that a major factor in the switch was due to National Lottery players transitioning online. The National Lottery was the only vertical that saw online participation increase significantly, up from 11.4 per cent to 13.8 per cent.
Some 26.3 per cent of respondents bought National Lottery tickets in June, meaning that it’s still the most popular form of gambling in Britain. Not counting the National Lottery, the proportion of gambling participation was 28.3 per cent, down from 30.5 per cent in June 2020.
Participation remained steady in sports betting (5.5 per cent), betting on horses (3.2 per cent) online slots (3.7 per cent) and casino games (1.1 per cent). Participation in bingo fell. However, when it comes to land-based operations, participation fell across the range.
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