Gambling in the UK Keeps Declining Says Latest GC Report

A report by the UK Gambling Commission compares the results of people interviewed in April and May 2020. Based on the report, a decline in the time spent gambling observed in the UK gambling industry.

GC’s Survey Comparing April-May Results Marks a Decrease in Gambling

Newly posted data by the UK Gambling Commission shows a decline in the percentage of gamblers. Keeping in mind that the country’s lockdown continues, only online sports betting has shown a small increase, according to the Gambling Commission.

The UK regulator based those results on a survey that was conducted among 8,713 people. YouGov along with the regulator conducted the survey in four parts, each consisting of approximately 2,100-2,400 people who were interviewed. Each part of the survey was conducted one week from the other.

The results of the first part of the survey, which looked into the four weeks until April 17, were announced back in May. Looking at those results, 66.2% of the interviewed people responded that they had not gambled, 32.0% said that they gambled and 1.8% responded that they didn’t know.

Focusing on the latest numbers which cover the period until May 8, we can see a decline in the number of people who gambled. According to the data from May 8, 70.3% of people said that they have not gambled for the last four weeks. Some 28.4% of the interviewed responded that they gambled and 1.3% said that they didn’t know. By comparing the April and May results we observe that the gambling in the UK faces a decline.

UK’s National Lottery Remains Popular

According to the GC report, the National Lottery keeps top place for the most popular gambling method. Results for the four weeks until April 17 show that 25.6% of the interviewed people bought tickets for the lottery. Looking at the next part of the survey ending May 8, the number of people who purchased tickets decreases to 22.7% of the interviewed.

Looking at the numbers regarding sports betting, we observe a decrease once again. Some 2.8% of the interviewed in the period until April 17 answered that they placed a bet in the last four weeks. This percentage faces a decrease when comparing to results from May 8. The number of people who placed sports bets reduces to 1.3% for that period.

Turning our eyes to online slots, a small increase is observed. According to the GC numbers for the four weeks until April 17, some 1.8% of the responders said that they played online slots. Looking at the numbers from May 8, the percentage of people is set to 2.2% which marks the increase. On the other hand, results which reflect the non-slot online casino activities also mark a tiny increase. Numbers from April show 1.0% of responders who engaged such activity. When comparing to results from May, the number of people slightly increases to 1.4%.

Looking at the post-COVID-19 results regarding the gambling industry, we observe that the industry will need more time to return to normal. Keeping in mind that the country is still keeping the lockdown procedures, we can only guess when the industry and everyday activities will return back to normal. In that line of thought, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has set a planned date to reopen the casinos in the country on July 4.