GSGB H1: UK gambling participation flat as nearly a third of customers play non-lottery verticals

The data follows the annual GSGB survey published for the first time in July and looks at how much UK adults are gambling.

Participation for the actual survey sample increased 8% as the sample size grew from 4,801 in the GC’s equivalent report last year (January to April), to 5,191 this year.

Gambling participation remains flat across the board

Overall gambling participation between January and April was the same as last year at 48% across the entire sample. This dropped to 27% when excluding lottery.

When taking a deeper look at online gambling rates, 16% of participants had gambled via desktop or mobile apps in the last four weeks (excluding lottery). Broken down by sex, slightly more men (20%) preferred online gambling, against only 13% of women. Men aged 35 to 44 gambled the most online with a 29% rate of participation.  

The in-person gambling participation rate was 29%, marking no change from last year. Excluding lottery draw only players, the participation rate was 18%.

Men and women represented a relatively equal split for overall gambling, with 51% of men having gambled in the past four weeks compared to 45% of women. When removing lottery from the mix, male participation drops to 30% and female to 24%.

However, lottery made up the majority of people’s gambling activities. When considering lottery in the data, men aged 45 to 54 had the highest rate of participation at 60%.

Excluding lottery, men aged 35 to 44 took the lead with 38% having gambled in the last four weeks. Women aged 35 to 44 (excluding lottery) had a 33% participation rate, the highest of the female demographic.

“Winning big” the main reason for gambling

When asked what their reason for gambling was, the majority of participants (85%) said they gambled to “win big money”, while 71% just found the activity fun. The excitement of betting drew in 53% of those surveyed and 57% said they gambled to make money. This figure dipped from the 59% of participants who said money was their primary reason for betting last year.

Finally, when asked about their feelings towards gambling in the past 12 months (including lottery), 37% of the sample landed right in the middle, rating the activity a 5. Removing lottery from the mix, a majority of 32% rated gambling a 5 and only 5% gave it a 10. There was minimal change from last year’s survey.

Lottery remains GB’s most popular gambling product

Lottery was the most played vertical with a 32% participation rate across all demographics, closely followed by charity lottery draws at 16%. Sports betting, both in-person and online, dropped 1% on last year to 9%, while casino games (both online and retail) remained flat at 3%. Slots (including retail) attracted 4% of the vote.  

Football was the most popular betting market, with 7% of the sample betting on the sport, followed by horseracing and greyhound racing at 4%. Both figures were the same as last year.

Casino games (excluding slots) attracted 3% of the sample, and slots 5%, including in person activity.