Gambling statistics for Great Britain
How many people in Great Britain gamble, what do they gamble on, and how many experience harm? The Gambling Commission’s official answer comes from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain. This guide sets out the latest annual figures, published in July 2026, and explains how to read them without overstating what they show.
In short
- The Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) is the official source of statistics on adult gambling. The latest annual report covers January 2025 to January 2026.
- 47% of adults had gambled in the past four weeks, and 27% if you leave out people who only played lottery draws.
- The most common activity was buying National Lottery tickets (31% in the past four weeks).
- 2.4% of adults had a Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) score of 8 or more. The Commission says this has been stable across three years.
- These are survey estimates with margins of error, and they should not be compared directly with older gambling or health surveys.
Where the figures come from
The GSGB is the Gambling Commission’s official statistics on gambling behaviour among adults aged 18 and over in Great Britain. It is carried out for the Commission by the National Centre for Social Research with the University of Glasgow. The 2025 annual report (opens in a new tab), published on 16 July 2026, is based on 20,775 adults. They took part online or by post in four quarterly waves between January 2025 and January 2026.
The survey covers who gambles, which activities they use, why they gamble, and the consequences gambling can have for them and for people close to them. Because it now has three years of results gathered the same way (2023, 2024 and 2025), the Commission says it can be used to track trends.
How many people gamble
| Measure | Past 12 months | Past 4 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Any form of gambling | 59% | 47% |
| Excluding people who only played lottery draws | 40% | 27% |
Applied to the adult population, the report estimates that around 31 million adults gambled in the past 12 months, and around 25 million in the past four weeks.
- By sex: 51% of men and 44% of women had gambled in the past four weeks.
- By age: people aged 45 to 64 were the most likely to have gambled in the past four weeks (53% of 45 to 54 year olds and 55% of 55 to 64 year olds), and 18 to 24 year olds the least likely (33%). Leave out lottery-only players and the picture changes: participation was highest at 25 to 44 (33%) and fell with age to 14% among people aged 75 and over.
- Variety: people who had gambled in the past four weeks used an average of 2.4 different types of gambling. The average was highest among 18 to 24 year olds (3.6) and lowest among those aged 75 or over (1.7).
What people gamble on
Among all adults, the most common activities in the past four weeks were:
- National Lottery tickets: 31%
- other charity lottery tickets: 16%
- scratchcards: 12%
That order held for women and for people aged 35 and over. For men and for 18 to 34 year olds, online betting on sports and racing was among the three most common activities instead of scratchcards.
Online and in person
38% of adults had gambled online in the past four weeks, compared with 28% in person (at a venue, or buying lottery tickets or scratchcards from a shop). The report says much of that gap comes from people buying lottery tickets online. Leaving out lottery-only players, the figures were 16% online and 17% in person. Men were more likely than women to gamble online (42% against 34%).
Why people gamble, and how they feel about it
The most common reasons adults gave for gambling at least sometimes were:
- for the chance of winning big money (84%);
- because it is fun (69%);
- to make money (57%);
- because it is exciting (53%).
Asked to score the last time they gambled from 0 (hated it) to 10 (loved it), 42% of people who had gambled in the past year gave a positive score, 36% a neutral 5 and 22% a negative score.
Gambling “to make money” is the third most common reason in the survey, but casino games are designed so that, on average, the operator keeps part of what is staked. Our guide to how online casino games work explains RTP and house edge.
Gambling harm: the PGSI and wider consequences
The Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) is a set of nine questions, each scored on a four-point scale. It measures both behavioural symptoms of gambling disorder and some adverse consequences of gambling. The Commission asks people not to describe it as a measure of gambling addiction. Among all adults in the 2025 survey:
| PGSI score | What the Commission says it represents | Adults |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Low risk: unlikely to have experienced adverse consequences, but may be at risk if heavily involved in gambling | 7.8% |
| 3 to 7 | Moderate risk: may or may not have experienced adverse consequences, but may be at risk if heavily involved in gambling | 3.5% |
| 8 or more | Problem gambling: will have experienced adverse consequences and may have lost control of their behaviour | 2.4% |
The Commission’s guidance gives a range for the 8-or-more figure: the true value is likely to fall between 1.9% and 2.8% of adults. That is roughly 1.0 to 1.5 million people, with a central estimate of about 1.3 million.
The survey also asks about a wider set of consequences. Among adults who had gambled in the past year:
- 2.7% had experienced at least one severe consequence. The most common was a relationship breaking down because of their own gambling (1.7%).
- The most common potential adverse consequences, happening at least occasionally, were cutting back on everyday spending (6.4%) and lying to family (5.9%).
- 3.4% had sought support because of their own gambling. The share using each type of service was similar, from 1.4% for gambling support services to 1.7% for mental health services.
If any of these sound familiar, free help is available: see gambling treatment in Great Britain or our help page.
The effect on other people
43.2% of adults said someone close to them gambled, even if only occasionally. Of those, 3.3% had sought some kind of help, support or information as a result. Our guide for people worried about someone else’s gambling covers where to turn.
Is gambling going up or down?
At headline level, the Commission describes gambling as stable. Its trends report compares 2023 with 2025: 48% of adults had gambled in the past four weeks in 2023, against 47% in 2025. 76.1% had a PGSI score of 0 in 2023, against 76.9% in 2025. It did find some changes within particular groups:
- more men gambling on activities other than lotteries in the past year;
- a higher share of adults aged 35 to 54 seeking help for their own gambling;
- fewer women aged 55 and over seeking help because of someone else’s gambling.
The Commission’s head of statistics also highlighted an increase in gambling among men aged 55 and over.
How to read these numbers
- They are estimates. Like any survey, the GSGB has a margin of error, and the Commission publishes 95% confidence intervals for its main figures.
- Do not compare them with older surveys. The GSGB uses a “push-to-web” method, so its results are not directly comparable with earlier gambling or health surveys. The Commission says only comparisons between GSGB years should be used to look at change over time.
- Check who the percentage is of. Some figures are a share of all adults, and others a share of people who gambled in the past year. The Commission says this is where it has seen statistics misreported.
- Adults only. The GSGB covers people aged 18 and over in Great Britain. For under-18s, see our guide to children and gambling. Northern Ireland is not part of the survey.
What comes next
20% of the statutory gambling levy now goes to research into gambling harm, mostly through UK Research and Innovation, with a smaller share to the Commission.
The Commission also publishes shorter results for each quarterly wave. The next wave (April to July 2026) is due on 3 December 2026, and the next annual report, covering January 2026 to January 2027, is scheduled for July 2027.