2023 UK Gambling Commission Survey Findings

In 2020, the UK Gambling Commission started a project to collect data on the growth of online gambling and problem gambling in a different way. Now, three years later, the project is on Step 3 and can present final experimental statistics based on in-depth interviews with participants.

More Details Survey Findings

The third phase of the Gambling Commission project outlines the survey findings implemented in the efforts to improve how problem gambling statistics are collected.

This final stage provides findings from 4,000 participants all collected between April and May 2023.

The data is shown as follows:

50% of participants took part in some form of gambling over the last four weeks.
From this 50%, participation was higher in men than in women.
The most popular form of gambling, gathered over those four weeks, is the National Lottery.
44% of participants rated their gambling experience an average of six out of 10. The scale included 10 being that they love it, and 0 being that they hate the games played.
Most participants gamble for monetary reasons and aim to win, not necessarily for means of pleasure or entertainment.
2.5% of all participants scored an 8 out of 10 on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), which is considered ‘problem gamblers’.
A further 3.5% scored between a 3 and a 7 on the scale, with 8% of participants rating between a 1 and a 2.
47.1% of participants received a PGSI score of 0, and 38.9% had not gambled within the last 12 months.

These statistics are quite different from previous findings in a similar field. The UKGC used new methods to collect information, which has proven to work well for this market.

Alert New Methodology Approach

With the release of the survey findings, the Gambling Commission also thoroughly explains their new methodology and the pros and cons of the new approach.

Strengths:

✓ The Push-to-Web methodology gives access to a wider range of people, allows anyone who clicks on the link to be interviewed and offers a paper-version alternative.

✓ The survey is for quick answers and is mainly focused on gambling.

Weaknesses:

✕ A downside to the new methodology is that interviewers are absent or not necessarily available to collect the data gathered.

✕ The accuracy of the answers relies on all questions being properly understood.

✕ Remote data collection methods generally have slimmer chances of receiving responses.

Although this is just a project and the data collected is used to implement future changes and systems, active gamblers must take the time to complete surveys and questionnaires when they come their way.

As not all players are the same, people in the industry need to understand how the patterns of problem gambling could be formed and, most importantly, how those players can be helped.

Above all else, online players must always play responsibly when partaking in gambling at online casinos. Play safe and make use of the available tools as a first defence against gambling harm.