Playing the National Lottery online remains by far the most popular form of interactive gambling, while the number of adults participating in all forms of online gambling has remained steady, according to a new survey commissioned by the Gambling Commission.

The survey was carried out by ICM Research and the results were generally consistent with other surveys of its type. A sample of 8000 respondents indicated that gambling is most popular with males between the ages of 18 and 35, with slightly over 13% of people in that category having gambled online “in the past month”.

The key findings from the survey, which covers the twelve months from March 2007 to March 2008, and includes data collected on a monthly basis, says that gambling via computer, laptop or handheld device was the most popular method for gambling, with 7.1% of all adult respondents having gambled this way. Mobile gambling came in second, with 2.4% of those surveyed having gambled via mobile phone, and 2.4% of people gambling through interactive television.

To reflect changes in the industry, a category for betting exchanges was added to the questionnaire.

Participants aged 55-64 and over 65 remain the “least likely” to have gambled online.

The figure of 7.1% for the total number of people who have gambled through the internet via a laptop, PC or handheld device is a small increase on the 2007 figure of 6.9%.

If the National Lottery is excluded from the figures, then the total numbers for gambling through a computer falls to 3.9%, a 0.1% increase on the previous year.

Figures for the ongoing survey are published quarterly by the Gambling Commission.

Posted: 2008-05-06