Research: Two Million Germans Gamble Online
17th December 2009 9:33 am GMT
According to the latest research from Germany, approximately 2 million German adults currently participate in some form of online gambling, despite its prohibition under the State Treaty on Gaming.
The research conducted amongst 1,000 people over the age of 18 on behalf of Bitkom, the German Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media Association, revealed that 1.7 million men and 300,000 women gamble online.
Lotteries are by far the most popular form of online gaming with a 59% participation rate, followed by poker at 22% and betting at 18%.
Lottery games were found to be most popular amongst women with 64% participating compared to 57% of men, while Poker was popular amongst 28% of men versus just 9% of women. In betting too a gap exists between men and women with 23% of men betting online compared to only 8% of women.
Major differences in preference according to age group were also identified with poker being the most popular form of online gaming amongst 18-29 year olds while those aged 30 and over were drawn to lotteries.
The research also found that most people in Germany play online for relatively small stakes, averaging €20 per month amongst two thirds of online gamblers with just one in four spending more that that amount.
"Online gambling is gaining in popularity," said Bitkom Vice President Achim Berg, calling on the government to modernise the country's gambling law in light of the increasing participation by adults.
"The current betting scandal in football has clearly demonstrated that the German ban only paves the way for a thriving black market," said Berg. "There is a clear demand for online gambling from German citizens - especially lottery, sports betting and poker. The last two years have shown that users do not accept the prohibition. "
Bitkom used the findings of the research yesterday to urge leaders of the German states to discuss the issue of online gaming at their next meeting in March 2010 with the aim of creating a state licensing system for all online gambling providers.
"We must ensure that public and private providers operate to the same high standards," added Berg. "Private providers are, just like the state, in a position to combat gambling addiction, manipulation and fraud."
