New UKGC report highlights stable self-exclusion rate
Report confirms power of social media advertising in persuading players to gamble
Approximately 6% of UK punters chose to self-exclude last year, according to a new UKGC gambling participation report.
The figure is the same as was reported during 2017 and comes despite more than 50,000 individuals registering for the GAMSTOP national self-exclusion scheme since it began in April 2018. More than 47% of surveyed gamblers were aware of self-exclusion.
Over half of those responding to the survey (53%) had seen a gambling advert on TV in the past week, while 45% of online gamblers said they were prompted to spend money on gambling during 2018 due to the adverts they saw.
The survey covered 1,000 telephone interviews and 2,000 online surveys.
More than a quarter of gamblers surveyed (26%) follow a gambling company on social media, with the highest proportion of these among 18-24-year olds. According to the survey, Facebook remains the most popular social media method by which gamblers follow gambling companies.
Just under half of respondents (49%) said they were prompted to spend money on gambling in 2018 due to the adverts they had seen on social media platforms.
Gambling participation in the UK rose to 46% of respondents during 2018, up 1% from the 45% recorded during the prior twelve months. This small rise was mirrored in the percentage of respondents who had participated in gambling in the past four weeks, which rose from 31% in 2017 to 32% in 2018.
Online gambling participation rates in 2018 remained the same as 2017, stabilising at 18% of respondents surveyed.
The percentage of online gamblers doing so via a mobile or tablet device during the last four weeks rose to 55% during 2018, an increase of 4% on the percentage of respondents who used these devices for gambling in 2017.
The percentage of gamblers responding to the survey who had bet in-play fell to 23% in 2018, a 3% reduction when compared to the 26% reported during 2017.