In the United Kingdom, a new study from the Gambling Commission regulator has found that 2016 saw the average rate of gambling among adults increase by 3.6% year-on-year to stand at 48.4% with tickets for the National Lottery remaining the most popular form of gambling.

The investigation, which was conducted via telephone and online by London-based consultancy Populus, found that some 52.6% of all male respondents had participated in gambling in the four weeks leading up to being surveyed, which was a rise of 3.5% year-on-year, while the female rate stood at 44.3%.

“This report presents annual estimates of gambling behavior in [the United Kingdom] in 2016 and constitutes the Gambling Commission’s regular tracker of gambling participation,” read a statement from the Gambling Commission. “Datasets cover past-four week participation rates, problem gambling estimates, online gambling behavior and perceptions and attitudes to gambling.”

The Gambling Commission revealed that its survey, which asked approximately 3,000 random adults each quarter about their gambling habits, additionally discovered that those aged 55 to 64 were the most likely to have gambled at 52.7% followed by people between the ages of 45 and 54 at 52.6%.

In terms of what gamblers are betting on, the investigation saw the National Lottery post a 2.3% decline year-on-year to 30% while betting shop gaming machines saw their percentage rise by 0.5% to 1.5%. But, the biggest swell was reported in online where the rate went up by 2.8% to stand at 17.3% with 35.3% of respondents declaring that they had wagered at least once a week.

“The National Lottery draws remain the most popular activity, followed by scratchcards and other lotteries,” read the statement from the Gambling Commission. “There have been notable increases in both sportsbetting and private betting likely driven by the UEFA European Football Championship 2016 and the Rio 2016 Olympics. Seventeen percent of people have gambled online with younger age groups seeing the largest increases in participation. Betting activities, other lotteries and casino games have seen an increase in online participation. Rates of playing bingo in-person have increased.”

In terms of online gambling, the Gambling Commission investigation declared that 55% of all players had used their laptop computer, which is a 6% decline year-on-year, while around 43% had relied upon a hand-held device.

“An estimated 0.7% of people identified as a problem gambler according to the short-form Problem Gambling Severity Index with a further 5.5% identifying as at low or moderate risk,” read the statement from the Gambling Commission.