Nearly three-quarters of adults in the UK gambled in 2010, new figures form the Gambling Commission have revealed.
According to the British Gambling Prevalence Survey, which is published today, 73 per cent of adults, which equates to 35.5 million people, gambled last year, up from 68 per cent in 2007. The majority say they participate in gambling “because it is fun” and “for the chance of winning big money”.
The most popular gambling activity was the National Lottery, with 59 per cent of adults purchasing a ticket in 2010. After the National Lottery, the most popular gambling activities were other lotteries (25 per cent), scratchcards (24 per cent), betting on horse races (16 per cent), playing slot machines (13 per cent) and private betting (11 per cent).
The number of problem gamblers appears to have increased slightly from 0.5 per cent in 2007 to 0.7 per cent in 2010. Although this number is comparable with other European states, it is still lower than the US, Australia and South Africa.
“The survey confirms that there are a significant and growing number of people who take part in gambling,” said Brian Pomeroy, chairman of the Gambling Commission. “However, it also indicates that a small, but probably growing, proportion of the population have serious problems with their gambling. This reinforces our determination to see that gambling regulation continues to both minimise the risk to those individuals and ensure that the majority of people can continue to gamble safely.”
This is the third in a series of reports that provide data on participation in gambling, the prevalence of problem gambling and attitudes towards gambling. It is the first to be conducted since the Gambling Act 2005 came into force in 2007.
