People in the UK Spend Nearly 11% of Leisure Money on Gambling
Data reveals that nearly 11% of leisure money is spent on gambling in the UK
Key Facts:
- The Department of Trust has found nearly 11% of leisure money is spent on gambling
- A study has found that gambling is the fifth most common leisure activity
- People with larger budgets spend more of their budget on gambling
The Department of Trust (DoT) has announced findings from a recent study. It looked at bank data from 304,022 consumers and found that 10.69% of the average person’s leisure spending goes towards gambling per month. The study looked at people’s leisure spending in detail.
All of those who were involved had made at least one deposit at a gambling site licensed by the UK Gambling Commission at some point between 1st April 2023 and 1st April 2024. Across this one-year period, the study’s participants collectively spent £150.8 million on gambling.
The study wasn’t able to cover what people actually spent on gambling sites; it instead focused on the sums of money that its participants deposited. It classes those who made deposits of £150 or greater as high-value gamblers.
Participants’ Monthly Leisure Spending
Throughout the study, participants had an average of £390 a month to spend on leisure activities. Gambling accounted for 10.69% of this, though there were four other activities that people spent more money on. These are as follows:
- Entertainment, TV and media: 12.29%
- Dining and going out: 11.81%
- Holidays: 11.67%
- Food delivery services: 11.37%
Some of the activities that people spent less money on than gambling during the study included lunch/snacking, hotel/B&B stays and hobbies. In total, the study’s participants spent an average of £41.34 per month on gambling, which equates to just over £10 per week.
The results of the study show that while gambling is a popular leisure activity, on the whole it’s not as widespread as other things. Yes, there will always be some who gamble irresponsibly, but for most it’s a harmless activity that doesn’t take up too much of their budget.
Charles Cohen, the founder and CEO of DoT, said this about the study’s results:
Money talks and in this case, it eats too, since people spend more on pizza than on a punt. Stay-at-home fun, such as Netflix, food delivery and betting online, is only about a third of leisure spend: the rest is spent on going out or going away– Charles Cohen, CEO of DoT, DoT CEO Comments on Study Results, iGamingbusiness
He also said that gambling doesn’t seem to get in the way of other activities, nor does it seem to be associated with a stay-at-home lifestyle. People who gamble are doing so sensibly, and it’s just one of many leisure activities they practise.
High-Value Gamblers
The study found that high-value gamblers (those depositing £150 or more), had a larger monthly leisure budget. Not only that, these people spent proportionally more on gambling than other activities. They spent just over 42% of their monthly leisure budget on gambling.
High-value gamblers had a higher monthly leisure budget (£452.38) compared to other participants (£386.67). It’s interesting that for those with more money to spend, the gambling percentage (nearly 11%) wasn’t the same; it went up. High-value gamblers spent around £191 per month on gambling.
The activity that high-value gamblers spent the second greatest amount of money on was food delivery. Entertainment, TV and media came in third place. What this shows is that those with more money are willing to spend greater amounts on gambling.
It raises the question of whether those with bigger budgets are more susceptible to becoming addicted and developing gambling problems. It seems that when people have less money to spend on leisure, they spread it across different activities more evenly.
