The money spent in gambling grew almost seven times compared to the money spent in 2001. The significant growth is a result of online gambling, which showed a considerable increase on its users.

The British government helped the online gambling industry by loosening the gambling laws in the country and allowed the building of new casinos.

The team of investigators from Nottingham Trent University that released the report said that the changes in gambling laws will increase the Treasury in almost £3,000m in taxes. According to some anti-gambling movements, the damages will highly surpass the benefits.

Compulsive gamblers are an important factor according to these movements. They say that 370,000 Britons are already affected by this illness.

Because of these protesters, the government rejected a petition to build 8 mega-casinos in 2001, allowing only one of these casinos in the UK. Many disagree with this measure, but apparently things are going to change.