UK Gambling Reports Released

Gambling is a pastime enjoyed by many in the United Kingdom, hence the reason two reports covering it have been released. The first is the Gambling Prevalence Survey released by the UK Gambling Commission and the second by the IBIS World study.

Gambling Prevalence Survey

ICM Research completed the Gambling Prevalence Survey which covers the year ended March 2012. The report a survey done on 4,000 adults covers gambling participation as well as remote gambling. Overall annual gambling participation has gone up. In the previous four weeks in 2009, 55.2% of the respondents said that they participated in at least one form of gambling. This figure now stands at 58.1%, a marginal increase of more than 3%. Males more likely to be 45 and over outnumbered females. National Lottery tickets remains the most popular gambling activity, since 48% of the respondents purchase lottery tickets. Shortly on its heels is the National Lottery scratch cards and good cause lotteries. Whilst horse race betting and gambling on slot machines were 4.3% and 3.4%.

In the previous four weeks only 12.2% of the adults surveyed said that they participated in at least some form of remote gambling. In 2006 this figure was 7.2 but in 2011 this figure stood at 12.4%. The National Lottery tops the list again since many tickets are purchased online. Again there were more male participants than female, this time round the age group was between 18 to 44. Of all the respondents 11% said they did remote gambling via a computer or laptop. Followed by mobile gambling and interactive/digital TV.

IBIS World Study

Although the IBIS World study was brief it clearly indicates that the UK’s current gambling industry is in a healthy state, however, during the past five years it did not fare so well. Problems started when indoor smoking was banned, causing profits to fall. Experts predict that profits will continue to drop at a predicted rate of 0.7% throughout 2012-13. Had the economic climate been better major events would have encouraged the growth and profit of gambling IBIS World stated. It goes without saying that perpetual recessions had a negative impact on major sporting events. Even the London Olympic Games might bring a cheer or two.

The study indicated some of the negative aspects such as budget cuts by the government, many internet gambling operators moving offshore and the decrease in gambling over a long-term. Hopefully gambling will bounce back within the next 5 years through 2017-18. All is not doom and gloom, factors that will contribute toward the positive growth of gambling are additional investments in new gambling technology, sporting events such as the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the Rugby World Cup in 2015.