UK problem gambling rate falls to 0.2% ahead of white paper release
Latest figures from the UKGC championed by the BGC as Michael Dugher slams “alarmist” reform lobbyists
The problem-gambling rate in the UK has fallen to 0.2% according to the latest figures from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
The UK regulator’s latest data showed the rate of problem gambling in the year to December 2022 was 0.2%, down from the 0.3% in 2021.
The decrease has been championed by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) ahead of the release of the much-delayed white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 review.
However, there are questions around the validity of the UKGC’s figures.
In March 2022, YouGov reported that there may be as many as 1.4 million problem gamblers in the UK, corresponding to 2.8% of the population.
Speaking to EGR at the BGC AGM in January, CEO Michael Dugher said the trade body followed the same figures that the government and the UKGC produced to monitor the rate of problem gambling.
Dugher explained: “I think the right figures are the official figures. We use official figures and don’t conflate them with what some would call ‘addiction’ because that’s not the same as problem gamblers. The UKGC has a very clear definition, and it is the right one in terms of what a problem gambler is.”
Reflecting in the latest drop in the UKGC’s figures, Dugher said it showed the need to base the white paper on evidence over rhetoric.
He said: “These newly released figures are further evidence of the positive progress we have made on safer gambling and underline our urgent calls for ministers to take a genuinely evidence-based approach to the upcoming white paper.
“These figures showing that problem gambling has fallen once again will no doubt come as a profound disappointment to anti-gambling prohibitionists, who like to vastly overstate the issue.
“Their alarmist demands are not backed up by the evidence. We want big changes, but they must be focused on this small minority who are vulnerable to harm – not the vast majority who bet safely and responsibly. We need a risk-based approach which helps the vulnerable, not one that ruins the experience for the responsible majority,” the CEO added.