UK Gambling Commission Issues Third GSGB Annual Report Detailing 2025 Participation Trends

The UK Gambling Commission released its third annual report from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain in July 2026, presenting data collected throughout 2025 from 20,775 adult respondents across England, Scotland and Wales; this marks the first time three consecutive years of comparable official statistics exist covering 2023 through 2025 on gambling participation, behaviours, attitudes and harms.

Survey Scope and Methodology

Researchers designed the Gambling Survey for Great Britain to gather consistent measures over multiple years, and the 2025 wave maintained the same core questions and sampling approach used in prior editions so direct comparisons remain valid; the sample size of 20,775 adults allows for robust national estimates while also supporting analysis of subgroups defined by age, gender and gambling frequency.

Key Participation and Behaviour Findings

Figures reveal overall gambling participation rates held steady across the three-year period, with the proportion of adults who reported any gambling activity in the past year showing only minor fluctuations; remote gambling continued to account for the largest share of engagement, while in-person betting shop and casino visits remained at lower levels than pre-pandemic baselines according to the report data.

Attitudes toward gambling regulation showed little movement between 2023 and 2025, with most respondents expressing support for existing age restrictions and advertising controls; those who gambled regularly indicated greater awareness of available support services compared with earlier survey waves.

Problem Gambling Prevalence Remains Stable

Problem gambling prevalence, defined by a PGSI score of 8 or higher, stayed at 2.4 percent across the three years, while moderate-risk and low-risk categories recorded slight variations that fell within the survey's margin of error; the stability suggests that recent policy measures have neither increased nor decreased the proportion of adults experiencing the most severe harms.

Experts note that the consistent methodology allows observers to track whether changes in operator practices or advertising rules translate into measurable shifts in these risk categories over time; the 2025 data therefore serves as an important baseline for evaluating future interventions.

Harms and Attitudes Across the Population

The report breaks down harms by type and severity, showing that financial difficulties and relationship strain remain the most commonly reported negative consequences among those scoring in the moderate-risk and problem-gambling ranges; mental health impacts, including anxiety and sleep disruption, appeared at similar rates to previous years.

Respondents who did not gamble at all expressed stronger support for further restrictions on marketing, whereas those who participated regularly tended to favour information-based approaches such as clearer odds displays and self-exclusion tools; these attitude differences have remained consistent across the three survey waves.

Implications for Policy and Research

Because the Gambling Survey for Great Britain now provides three comparable annual datasets, analysts can begin to distinguish short-term fluctuations from longer-term trends in participation and harm; the official statistics therefore supply evidence that regulators and public health bodies can use when assessing the effectiveness of current harm-minimisation requirements.

Further analysis of the 2025 dataset is expected to explore regional variations and the relationship between specific product types and risk scores, building on the headline findings already released.

Conclusion

The third annual Gambling Survey for Great Britain report delivers the first multi-year comparable picture of gambling behaviours and harms in Great Britain, with problem gambling prevalence holding steady at 2.4 percent through 2025; stakeholders now have a clearer baseline against which to measure the impact of ongoing regulatory and industry initiatives.