Several weeks after the UK Government released its White Paper on gambling, the National Health Service (NHS) released a new report featuring the most current data about problem gambling rates in the country. Apart from providing valuable information about gambling addiction, the new report outlined the percentage rates of male and female gamblers and data about the most popular forms of gambling among local residents within the last 12 months.
The recent report of the National Health Service starts with details about problem gambling and reveals that based on the so-called Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) scores, approximately 0.3% of British adults engaging in gambling were categorised as problem gamblers. The percentage of adults who were considered exposed to risk of developing compulsive gambling behaviour is significantly higher and stands at 2.8%.
The report also revealed that, excluding lotteries and the UK National Lottery, 10% of the adult residents of the country (or one in 10) took part in online gambling over the last 12 months.
According to the figures that were recently reported by the NHS, men, who usually tend to be more avid gamblers and find gambling more appealing, were more likely to engage in some form of gambling. Not surprisingly, men were also a bigger group of the individuals exposed at risk or categorised as gambling addicts. About 4.4% of British men were considered at-risk or problem gamblers. In comparison, only 1.1% of British women were categorised as at-risk or as addicted to gambling.
National Lottery Draws Remain the Most Popular Form of Gambling among British Gamblers
The latest NHS report covers the 12-month period that ended on March 31st, 2022. When compared to the statistics released by the country’s gambling regulatory body – the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) – the data shows there has been a slight decline in the problem gambling rates in the country. As previously reported by Casino Guardian, the most recent data reported by the UK gambling watchdog revealed a 0.2% problem gambling rate.
Details released by the National Health Service of the UK showed that the most popular gambling service in the country over the last 12 months was the National Lottery Draw and its tickets. As the NHS revealed, that form of gambling accounted for 34% of the activities, while tickets for other lotteries across the country accounted for another 15% of the activities.
So-called scratch cards were chosen by 14% of the gamblers, while online sports betting services offered by local lawmakers were preferred by 8% of the British gamblers in the last 12 months. Placing a wager on a horse race via sports betting operators’ platforms or via phone, was chosen by 5% of gamblers. According to the data presented in the recent report of the National Health Service, the rest of the gambling activities in the country represented a rate of gambling participation of less than 5%.
The data that was recently reported has uncovered that individuals who had gambled and spent money on at least four different gambling activities over the last 12 months, were more likely to get exposed to risk of gambling harm or develop some kind of gambling addiction (27.8%) than people who gambled on two or three different gambling activities (4.6%), or on only one gambling activity (1.6%) over the aforementioned period of time.
- Author
Daniel Williams
