Daily Research News Online no. 2141 - National Lottery Continues its Decline

National Lottery Continues its Decline

January 30 2003

Recent results of an on-going study from ORC, which examines trends in the UK's gaming industry, have highlighted that the proportion of the population participating in the Lotto game has been declining for some time - falling to around 61% of adults in 2002, compared with 75% in 1998.

'GamblerTrack 2002', conducted by research consultancy ORC International, also showed that National Lottery games still remain the most widespread form of 'gambling' in the UK by a considerable margin.

Despite showing a substantial drop in numbers playing, the National Lottery still dominates the lotteries sector. Overall, the number of people who 'gambled' has declined by 6% over the last year to 29 million (65% of adults), however 94% of gambling adults play National Lottery games.

The study showed that all lottery activities lost more players than were gained. Nearly 2 million people (7% of adults) stopped playing the Lotto Saturday game and an even larger number (3 million) played it less often.

Only 32% of UK adults now play the midweek lotto game, a decrease in players by 1.5million (10%) in the last year. Of those who do, almost three quarters play weekly and nearly all mid-week players participate in the Saturday draws.

National Lottery Instants are much less popular than the main Lotto game draws and after a heavy fall last year have stabilised for the first time since their launch, with buyers currently numbering less than five million. Around one in ten still buy lottery instants, however only a third of participants play weekly.

National Lottery Thunderball saw a take up rate of 4.4 million on its introduction, but despite the introduction of a midweek game, playing numbers have again fallen by 11% in the past year (-560,000). Lotto Extra attracts 1.5 million players, almost all of whom also play the Saturday Lotto game.

Other paid-for lotteries have a limited and declining appeal with only 1% of adults taking part, players decreasing by one third in the last year. Newspaper lotteries are no more popular, with 1% of adults participating in the past year, representing a 17% drop in players since 2001.

The Saturday National Lotto averages 49 playing occasions per player per year, with the midweek game not far behind with 47. Both represent clear increases on last year. National Lottery Instants and National Lottery Thunderball are played on 37/39 occasions per year while National Lotto Extra is played much less frequently with 24 playing occasions per player per year - down significantly from 2001.

While the gender profile of the Saturday and Midweek National Lotto is relatively in line with that of the British adult population, the Thunderball and Lotto Extra games attract slightly more male players. Other paid-for lotteries now attract more female players than male, while newspaper lotteries reflect the population split. The purchase of National Lottery Instants has swung back towards female players (51%) and appeals more to the under 35's, with 43% of players in this category.

The National Lotto remains a popular activity, with the Saturday game continuing to attract more than 70% of all its annual customers each week, and in total nine in ten players at least monthly. The Wednesday game pulls in slightly fewer weekly players and 88% play at least each month.

Other National Lottery games do not command the same response. Of these, Thunderball is played most frequently, 77% of Thunderball players play at least monthly, with over half playing weekly. 31% of National Lottery Instants customers play weekly, and a further third play monthly.

Commenting on this survey, head of ORC International consumer division, Nick Mawditt said 'Poor publicity, falling jackpot pay-outs and the low chance of winning have all contributed to eroding the popularity of the National Lottery Lotto games. While the newer National Lottery games arouse interest in the short term, the novelty soon wears off. However, virtually everyone who gambles in this country plays it!'