The UK Gambling Commission’s deputy chief executive, Sarah Gardner, says the rate of online play in the lottery sector is “stark”, as the regulator revealed its latest data.
Gardner, speaking at the Lotteries Council Annual Conference on Thursday, said that in the year to March 2023, 63 per cent of people participated in charity lotteries online, versus 34 per cent in person.
Furthermore, in the year to March 2023, 13.4 per cent of adults had participated in a charity lottery in the last four weeks, up from 10.8 per cent in 2018.
Gardner concluded that lotteries are a “successful gambling product” and one of the only gambling activities not to see a significant decrease in participation during the coronavirus pandemic.
As reported by the Gambling Commission, she said: “There is plenty to mull over in these numbers for all of you in this room.
“But the statistic that jumps out at me there is the rate of online play. Given that the growth of online gambling has slowed somewhat, the level of play for Society Lotteries online is stark.”
She said that statistic “raises questions,” calling on operators to consider how they interact with customers, even though online play in society lotteries is “very different” to other types of gambling in that it involves “often just a method of payment.”
Gardner also revealed that participation in charity lotteries in the UK increases with age, with participation in 2022 17.3 per cent among people aged 65 and over.
However, Gardner said that figure drops to three per cent for people aged 16-24.
Gardner added that females are more likely than males to participate in charity lotteries, with 16.2 per cent of females playing compared to 10.5 per cent of men in the year to March 2023.
