GAMSTOP, the free national scheme for self-exclusion from online gambling, has reported a 28% year-on-year increase in registrations to the service from 2020 to 2021.
The first six months of 2021 saw a significant spike in registrations compared to the same period in 2020, with a rise of 25%. This figure rose further from July to December 2021, with a 32% increase taking the total number of GAMSTOP registrants to more than 257,000 by the turn of the year.
The GAMSTOP annual review has been launched to offer a deeper insight into trends on the GAMSTOP platform, and gambling behaviours across the UK. GAMSTOP is the UK’s free online gambling self-exclusion scheme. Users sign up by filling in personal details, and selecting a period of six months, twelve months, or five years. Once completed, they are self-excluded from all online gambling sites in the UK until their exclusion period ends.
The review also shows that the number of women signing up to GAMSTOP continues to grow, and now accounts for more than 75,000 of total GAMSTOP registrants. If the rate of registrations continues, almost 100,000 women will be registered to the platform by the end of 2022. Men continue to account for 70% of registrants, and women 30%. 43% of registrants are aged between 25 – 34.
Of the 257,000 people to have registered with GAMSTOP, the majority choose to keep their exclusion in place, with more than 235,000 currently actively excluded from online gambling.
There has also been a slight shift in the length of exclusion that people are putting in place. 50% of registrants in 2021 selected the maximum exclusion period of five years, with 24% selecting one year, and 26% selecting six months. These figures differ from the all-time split, where 55% have selected five years, and 22% six months.
Fiona Palmer, GAMSTOP CEO, said: “Understanding the profile of GAMSTOP registrants is crucial if we are to continue to ensure that we reach anybody who the GAMSOTP service can help.
“Registrations have remained high throughout 2021. While it is hard to gauge how associated this is to the pandemic, what is clear is that self-exclusion is an increasingly important tool for those who wish to remove the temptation of online gambling.
We are very lucky to have many committed partners who work hard to raise awareness of the GAMSTOP service, and I want to place on record our thanks to all of them. We will continue to work hard to ensure that people have access to the tools that are essential to their recovery.”
