UK regulator finds 47% adults gambled in month before survey
Almost half of adults in Great Britain had gambled in the four weeks before taking part in the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, according to new figures from the Gambling Commission.
The regulator put participation among people aged 18 and over at 47 per cent. That fell to 27 per cent when respondents who had only entered lottery draws were excluded.
The findings come from the third annual Gambling Survey, based on responses from about 20,000 adults. It examines gambling participation, behaviour, attitudes and consequences, including participation in the National Lottery.
When it comes to motivations for betting and gambling, winning remained the primary attraction. Of those surveyed, 84 per cent cited the chance of a large prize, while 69 per cent said they gambled because it was fun. More than half said they gambled to make money or enjoyed the excitement.
Tim Miller, the commission’s executive director for research and policy, said the survey offered “a richer, more timely picture of the trend in gambling in Great Britain than has previously been available”.
A market under growing pressure
Britain’s gambling market is also adjusting to a heavier tax burden. Remote Gaming Duty increased from 21 per cent to 40 per cent on 1 April 2026, sharply raising the levy on online casino profits. Another change will follow in April 2027, when the duty on most remote betting rises from 15 per cent to 25 per cent. Bets on British horseracing will remain exempt. The Treasury expects the package to generate more than GBP 1 billion (€1.18 billion) by 2031.
The Betting and Gaming Council warned that the change represented “a devastating blow to thousands of individuals employed in the industry”. Operators have also argued that steeper costs could make licensed businesses less competitive against the unregulated gambling market.
The Gambling Commission is also rolling out financial risk assessments for customers who spend heavily online. The regulator says the system is designed to identify people who may be financially vulnerable.
Industry bodies remain unconvinced. Grainne Hurst, chief executive of the Betting and Gaming Council, said “the central issues around reliability, consumer impact, and the practical operation of these checks remain unresolved”.
The British Horseracing Authority has warned that the checks will subject racing bettors to “unwarranted levels of intrusion” and push more customers towards the illegal market.
Dispute over problem gambling figures
The commission’s latest survey also found that 2.4 per cent of adults recorded a score of eight or more on the Problem Gambling Severity Index, the threshold used to indicate problem gambling. It described the level as stable across the three years covered by the survey.
The figure and the methodology behind it have previously attracted criticism. The 2024 GSGB reported a problem gambling rate of 2.5 per cent, compared with the 0.4 per cent estimate produced by the NHS-led survey system it replaced.
At the time, reform campaigners and some all-party parliamentary groups cited the higher figure in calls for tighter restrictions, while trade bodies including the Betting and Gaming Council continued to refer to the older 0.4 per cent estimate.
The newer study is dedicated solely to gambling and uses larger samples and continuous data collection, but the statistics regulator has called for clearer explanation of its limitations and possible biases.
Subscribe HERE to SiGMA’s Top 10 News countdown and SiGMA’s weekly newsletter to stay up to date with all the latest iGaming News from the biggest iGaming community in the world and benefit from subscriber-only offers.
