The UK’s problem gambling rate has dipped to 2.4% in the third edition of the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, released on 16 July 2026 by the Gambling Commission.
The figure represents a reduction from the 2.7% recorded in last year’s survey, continuing a broadly stable trend across the three years of data collected so far.
The commission noted the rate has remained stable over the past three years, with the inaugural 2024 survey recording a figure of 2.5% based on the Problem Gambling Severity Index scoring system.
Tim Miller, the soon-to-depart executive director for research and policy at the UKGC, welcomed the ongoing accumulation of data from multiple survey cycles.
Miller said: “Three years of GSGB provides a richer, more timely picture of the trend in gambling in Great Britain than has previously been available.”
He added: “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.”
Overall gambling participation remained largely unchanged, with 47% of respondents aged 18 and above saying they had gambled in the past four weeks, down slightly from 48% the previous year.
When lottery-only participants are excluded from the figures, the participation rate drops to 27%, which remains proportional with numbers recorded in earlier editions of the survey.
Head of statistics Helen Bryce identified notable sub-trends within the data, pointing out: “In the trend data we have seen an increase in gambling amongst males aged 55 and over.”
This year’s edition also introduced new insight into the motivations behind gambling, with 78% of gamblers holding a positive or neutral view of the activity.
Some 84% of gamblers cited “the chance of winning big money” as a reason for participation, while 69% listed fun and 53% pointed to excitement as motivating factors.
A notable 57% listed “making money” as a reason for gambling, representing a significant drop compared to those seeking a particularly large single win.
The survey also examined the impact of problem gambling on those around the gambler, a topic that has drawn increasing attention in policy discussions across the industry.
Of those surveyed, 43.2% reported that someone close to them gambled, and 3.3% of that group had sought support of some kind as a result.
Among people who had gambled in the past 12 months, just under 6% admitted to lying to their family at least occasionally, while relationship breakdown was identified as the most frequent severe consequence of another person’s gambling at 3.3%.
The GSGB was conducted using a push-to-web methodology, meaning participants were recruited through offline channels before completing online questionnaires, which differs from the approach used in NHS Health Surveys.
Miller said: “This evidence is a vital part of a wider evidence base that informs policy, regulation and wider public discussion. We encourage researchers, policymakers, industry and the wider public to make use of these findings alongside the interactive dashboard and supplementary reports.”
The survey was carried out by the National Centre for Social Research alongside the University of Glasgow, collecting data from 20,775 adults across Great Britain between January 2025 and January 2026.
Additional reports drawing on the GSGB dataset are expected to be published throughout the remainder of the year.
