The rise of online gambling

Government are currently reviewing the 2005 Gambling Act to ensure laws are suited to the digital era

% of people participating in different forms of gambling in the past four weeks, by type

THE number of people gambling online has increased for at least the fifth year in a row, with Covid-19 lockdowns and the need for social distancing accelerating the trend.

Figures from the Gambling Commission show that 22.6 per cent of adults surveyed in the year to September said they had participated in at least one form of online gambling in the last four weeks.

The figure is up from 20.5 per cent of respondents the year before, and is the highest proportion seen since at least 2016, when the survey was first published.

The increase in the last year has happened despite the drop seen in sports and events betting, given games were suspended during the first UK lockdown.

In comparison, the overall number of people participating in any kind of gambling at all has fallen to 42.7 per cent.

This is down from 46.7 per cent and is at least a five-year low. The figures indicate a drop in in-person betting, likely caused by the effects of the pandemic.

However, while the overall proportion of people gambling has been fluctuating, the proportion participating in online gambling specifically has been steadily rising year on year - so the move online has not solely been caused by coronavirus.

The figures show that the rate of problem gambling has also increased slightly in the last year, from 0.5 per cent of respondents to 0.6 per cent - which is not considered a statistically significant rise.

However, within that the rate for women in particular has more than tripled from less than 0.1 per cent to 0.3 per cent.

Problem gamblers are those whose habits cause negative consequences and who suffer from loss of control while playing.

Online gambling has become increasingly easy to access, with the stress of ongoing lockdowns and Covid-19 restrictions potentially increasing gambling engagement.

Punters no longer have to leave the house to place bets, which may have an adverse effect in terms of future gambling problems for many.

The figures come as the government is reviewing the 2005 Gambling Act, which was labelled “analogue” and out of date for the digital age by the Conservative Party in their 2019 election manifesto.

Tim Miller, executive director of the Gambling Commission Executive Director, said: “We welcome the government’s Review of the Gambling Act which will also consider our powers and resources.

“We are committed to making gambling safer and we are making progress.

“In the last two years we have delivered a comprehensive programme of tougher enforcement and compliance activity, we have strengthened protections including online age and ID verification, customer interaction, and in April we banned gambling on credit cards.

“Our recent work with the industry has seen strengthened online advertising rules to better protect vulnerable groups and we recently introduced new rules to stamp out irresponsible ‘VIP customer’ practices which included strengthened affordability checks.”