The UK Gambling Commission has released the third annual Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB), providing a detailed overview of gambling participation, attitudes, experiences and consequences across the country during 2025. The latest findings indicate that overall gambling activity remained largely unchanged from previous years, while the proportion of respondents classified as problem gamblers recorded a slight year-on-year decline.
Produced by the National Centre for Social Research and the University of Glasgow on behalf of the regulator, the survey gathered responses from 20,775 adults across Great Britain. Fieldwork took place between January 2025 and January 2026, making this edition one of the largest gambling-focused studies conducted internationally. According to the Commission, the survey now offers three consecutive years of official data covering the period from 2023 through 2025, allowing analysts to examine longer-term developments in gambling behavior.
The report found that 47% of adults aged 18 and older had participated in some form of gambling during the four weeks preceding the survey. This compares with 48% in the previous edition, indicating little movement in overall participation levels. When individuals who only played National Lottery draws are excluded, participation stood at 27%, a figure that also remained consistent with previous surveys.
Problem Gambling Measure Remains Broadly Unchanged
One of the most closely watched findings concerns the share of respondents recording a Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) score of eight or higher. The latest survey placed that figure at 2.4% in 2025, compared with 2.7% reported in the previous year’s results. The Commission described the measure as stable across the three-year period, noting that the first GSGB publication reported a rate of 2.5%.
The regulator also highlighted that comparisons with other gambling-related studies should be approached carefully because of methodological differences. Public discussion often references the NHS estimate of a 0.7% problem gambling rate, but the Commission noted that the GSGB uses a different approach and measurement framework.
The GSGB follows a “push-to-web” model. Researchers initially contact potential participants through offline methods before directing them to complete questionnaires online. This differs from the methodology commonly used in NHS Health Surveys.
Tim Miller, Executive Director for Research and Policy at the Gambling Commission, said: “The publication of the third annual Gambling Survey for Great Britain marks an important milestone.”
He added: “Three years of GSGB provides a richer, more timely picture of the trend in gambling in Great Britain than has previously been available. It helps us understand not only who gambles and the products they use, but also why people gamble, the range of experiences they have, and the consequences gambling can have in people’s lives. This evidence is a vital part of a wider evidence base that informs policy, regulation and wider public discussion.”
Motivations for Gambling and Public Attitudes
The latest edition introduced additional insight into why people choose to gamble. Among those who participated in gambling activities, 84% cited the possibility of winning a large sum of money as a reason for taking part. Gambling being enjoyable was selected by 69% of respondents, while 57% said making money influenced their participation. A further 53% pointed to excitement as a motivating factor.
The survey also examined how gamblers viewed their own activity. According to the findings, 78% of gamblers described their feelings toward gambling as either positive or neutral, suggesting that most participants did not associate their gambling experiences with negative sentiment.
Beyond the headline figures, analysts identified several demographic patterns emerging from the data. Helen Bryce, the Commission’s Head of Statistics, noted that one trend observed across the three years of available data was increasing gambling participation among men aged 55 and older.
Impact on Families and Wider Communities
The survey also explored the experiences of people affected by another person’s gambling. Among all respondents, 43.2% reported having someone close to them who gambled. Of those individuals, 3.3% said they had sought some form of support related to the effects of another person’s gambling behavior.
Among people who had gambled during the previous 12 months, slightly less than 6% reported that they had lied to family members at least occasionally about their gambling activities. The most commonly reported serious consequence linked to someone else’s gambling was relationship breakdown, which affected 3.3% of respondents.
The Commission stated that the growing focus on “affected others” has become an increasingly important part of discussions surrounding gambling-related harm, making these findings particularly relevant for policymakers and researchers.
Miller said: “We encourage researchers, policymakers, industry and the wider public to make use of these findings alongside the interactive dashboard and supplementary reports. As with all official statistics, we remain committed to ensuring GSGB continues to meet the highest standards through transparency, independent scrutiny and ongoing methodological improvement.”
The regulator indicated that additional reports drawing on the 2025 GSGB dataset will be published throughout the year, providing further analysis of gambling participation, experiences and related outcomes across Great Britain.