UK Gambling Commission Survey Shows No Increase in Online Activity

The UK Gambling Commission has released the results of its quarterly Gambling Participation survey, and the results suggest that there has been no increase in the use of online gambling sites in the UK since this time last year.

The survey, conducted over the phone by British Polling Council member ICM Research, claims to represent the entire UK population in terms of age, gender, social classification and region. Out of the 7000 respondents, just over half had participated in some sort of gambling activity during the past four weeks, a number that is up nearly one percent from 2009.

Ten percent of those questioned say they have taken part in some form of online gambling during the past four weeks. This is the same number obtained by a similar survey one year ago, suggesting there has been no increase in online gambling over the past year.

The demographic most likely to gamble on the internet appears to be males aged 25-34, while men and women over 65 are least likely. The National Lottery is by far the most popular form of internet gambling in the United Kingdom, with 8.3 percent of all UK adults taking part. Sports betting and scratch cards come next. Other forms of online gambling, including poker and online bingo games in the UK fall in at just over one percent.

One interesting trend that the survey revealed is that 2.7 percent of all respondents have gambled using their mobile phones. Mobile gambling is quickly increasing in popularity around the world as devices such as iPhones, iPads, and Androids offer larger screens and touch interfaces. Gambling online using a computer, however, remains the most popular.