UKGC reminds the industry, media and researchers to not "misuse" statistics

After recently undergoing a change in the way that assess problem gambling, and particularly the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB), the UK Gambling Commission has reminded media outlets and the industry to use the numbers responsibly.

In a blog post by the watchdog, the regulator insisted that it took a serious issue with data misrepresentation, as it could easily misinform public opinion and steer debates about regulatory changes in the wrong direction. This reminder coincides with the release of the latest participation data for the GSGB.

UKGC remains optimistic about the future of data in informing decisions

"We have and will continue to take action wherever we see misuse of our official statistics," read a penned statement by UKGC Director of Research and Statistics Ben Haden. He urged anyone who may have questions about the publication of UKGC data to simply reach out and elaborate on points that may not be immediately clear. He added:

"We’re a couple of months on from the release of our first Annual Report for GSGB and one of the great things that I and the team at the Commission have seen since then is the number of people in the research community, the gambling sector and even more widely, starting to explore and get to grips with what the wealth of data we now have can tell us."

According to the latest GSGB, the headline figures about gambling participation in the past four weeks reached 48% - this applies to the adult population, i.e. people of the legal gambling age.

In terms of online gambling, the UKGC established that participation is pinned at 38%, although when taking out the players who participate in the lottery, the number drops to 16%. These numbers are roughly the same as previous estimates going back to 2023.

At the same time, Haden wants to ensure that the GSGB is the best it can ever be. The regulator reached out to 5,191 adults who were aged 18+ and covered the period between January 2024 and April 2024.

The UKGC also introduced guidance on how to use statistics in January 2024, hoping to wrinkle out any misunderstanding with researchers, media outlets, the public, and lawmakers.

Better data for better regulation and consumer protection

Haden similarly cautioned that there is a lot more data to dig into and that ensuring that the regulator collects better data would ultimately lead to better regulation.

All of this should come down to a robust evidence base, and the GSGB is already proving to be the world’s most detailed and complete effort in ensuring that crucial pieces of data are collected to guarantee consumer safety and help steer the industry in the best practices.

As always, Haden and the UKGC are open to feedback and input to make sure that they help policymakers make effective changes to the existing gambling law that ultimately benefit consumers.

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