UK gambling facing minor decline during lockdown

In what is quite a confusing period for everyone, one industry that is in more flux than most is the UK online gaming scene. Despite being a massive part of the entertainment industry, messages during the pandemic have been mixed. We’ve been told that there has been no rise in problem gambling but also been told the total opposite. However, a recent data set by the UK Gambling Commission appears to show that the more people have stopped gambling in the UK since the beginning of lockdown.

However, they did also note that while fewer people were gambling, there was enough evidence to show that some people were gaming for longer, slightly compensating for the player numbers drop-off. A study that took in around 4,465 people by YouGov showed that 0.2% of those asked had started to gamble after lockdown. This contradicts recent reports slightly, which made the claim that more and more people were taking to gambling as a means to cure the boredom and scratch their competitive itch during a lockdown.

Indeed, it also found that just 1.5% of those asked were actually playing more than they did prior to lockdown. So, for all the recent stories seen about how gambling is in a crisis due to excess intake of gamers, it would appear that the opposite might actually be the case.

While regular gamblers – those who gamble more than three times per week – noticed a 20% increase in playing time and spending, many other people have simply not committed to the same schedule. So, is the issue really as dire as it was made out?