Online gambling participation in the UK has increased by around 50% over the past six years, according to a new report by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).

In a followup to its recent gambling participation survey, the UKGC issued a secondary analysis of data compiled by DataBuild Research & Solutions. According to the Trends in Gambling Behavior 2008-20014, remote gambling participation was 15.4% in December 2014 compared to 9.7% in December 2008, while the overall gambling participation rate dipped slightly over the same period.

The gains are most noticeable among male gamblers, whose online participation rose from 11.7% in December 2008 to 18% last December. Female online gamblers rose from 7.8% to 12.8% over the same period. The likelihood of participation in online sports betting is 106.8% higher for men than women, while men were 24.9% more likely to participate in other forms of online gambling.

Interestingly, men tend to gamble more online as the economy worsens. A 1% decrease in the UK’s gross domestic product was associated with a 4.6% increase in male online gambling participation. Meanwhile, a 1% increase in the ranks of the unemployed resulted in a near-equal decline in female online gambling while no such correlation was observed in male online gamblers.