The UK Gambling Commission has revealed its latest findings on online gambling.  The study was conducted by ICM Research and 8,000 people were questioned between June 2007 and March 2008.

The study found that:

8.8 percent of the people questioned had taken part in at least one form of remote gambling in the past month.

The most popular age range for remote gambling is the 18 – 34 age bracket and users are more likely to be male than female.

When you exclude the National Lottery from remote gambling, the figure of those participating in remote gambling falls to 5.1 percent.

The National Lottery appears to be very popular among remote gamblers, with 6.3 percent of the people surveyed saying they had bought tickets for the National Lottery remotely in the previous month.

Remote gambling by computer, laptop or handheld device as expected remains the most popular form of remote gambling.  7.1 percent of the people surveyed admitted to taking part in remote gambling via this method.  Mobile phone gambling was the second most popular form with 2.4 percent taking part and less than 2 percent gambled via interactive/digital TV.


As well as undertaking this survey, The UK Gambling Commission is busy planning for the next British Gambling Prevalence Study in 2010.  This study is seen as the key indicator in gambling trends with businesses keeping a very close eye on its findings. 

The 2010 Gambling Prevalence Study will survey the extent of participation in gambling together with the prevalence of problem gambling and will build on the two surveys that took place in 1999 and 2007.

A spokesperson for the Gambling Commission has indicated that the project will be divided into three phases.

The first phase will involve the design of the survey questionnaire and the service provider will also give advice on study methodology.

The second phase will see the service provider conduct the fieldwork giving detailed reports on the study’s progress.

Finally, the service provider will provide detailed analysis of the study’s results, draft the final report and incorporate peer review recommendations. 

The UK Gambling Commission has sent an open invitation for academics and others with knowledge of gambling prevalence studies to attend a discussion on 17th June, before the tendering process.

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