Gambling Survey for Great Britain Releases Third Annual Report on Participation and Behaviours

The Gambling Commission has published the third annual report from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, and this release delivers official statistics covering gambling participation, behaviours, attitudes, and consequences across the 2023–2025 period. Headline figures show participation held steady at 47% of adults aged 18 and over who engaged in any gambling activity in the past four weeks during 2025, while the rate drops to 27% when lottery-only players are excluded from the calculation, and problem gambling rates measured by a PGSI score of 8 or higher remained unchanged at 2.4%.

Survey Background and Scale

Researchers designed the Gambling Survey for Great Britain as one of the largest dedicated studies of its kind anywhere in the world, drawing responses from roughly 20,000 adults each year to support robust trend analysis over time. Data collection methods combine online panels with address-based sampling, which allows the survey to track shifts in behaviours while maintaining consistency across multiple waves. Observers note that this sample size provides enough statistical power to detect small changes in key indicators, and the longitudinal structure helps separate short-term fluctuations from longer patterns in the data.

Participation Rates Across the Population

Figures reveal that 47% of adults reported some form of gambling in the four weeks before they completed the questionnaire in 2025, a level that matches results from the previous two years within the margin of error. When analysts remove respondents who only played the National Lottery, the participation rate falls to 27%, and this adjusted measure also shows no meaningful movement compared with earlier reports. People who study these trends often find that lottery play dominates overall participation numbers, while other activities such as sports betting, casino games, and online slots account for smaller but steadier shares of the market. The stability in both measures suggests that broader economic factors and regulatory changes have not produced detectable shifts in how many adults choose to gamble at least occasionally.

Problem Gambling Indicators Remain Steady

Problem gambling rates measured through the Problem Gambling Severity Index stayed at 2.4% for those scoring 8 or higher, a threshold that indicates severe difficulties according to the instrument's established cut-offs. This figure has held constant across the three years covered by the annual reports, and researchers point to the same pattern in moderate-risk categories that sit just below the highest threshold. The consistency appears in both the full sample and in subgroup breakdowns by age, gender, and region, although the survey continues to show higher rates among younger adults and among those who participate in multiple gambling formats. Because the survey reaches such a large number of respondents each year, even modest changes would register as statistically significant, yet none have emerged so far in the headline problem gambling metric.

Attitudes and Consequences Captured in the Data

Beyond raw participation and problem rates, the report presents information on attitudes toward gambling and on the range of consequences that respondents associate with their own activity. Questions cover perceived fairness of gambling operators, views on advertising, and self-reported impacts on finances, relationships, and mental health. Those who've studied the dataset note that negative consequences cluster among the smaller group of higher-risk players, while the majority of participants report either neutral or positive experiences when they gamble within controlled limits. The survey instrument asks respondents to recall events over the past year, which produces a broader picture than four-week participation snapshots alone can provide.

Methodology Supports Reliable Trend Tracking

Experts built the survey with repeated cross-sections that allow direct year-on-year comparisons, and weighting procedures adjust for differences in response rates across demographic groups. The combination of online and probability-based sampling helps reduce coverage bias that can affect purely digital panels, and the annual cadence means new data arrives frequently enough to inform policy discussions without creating excessive administrative burden. Because each wave uses the same core questions, analysts can construct time series that stretch across multiple reports, and this structure strengthens the ability to detect gradual changes that might otherwise be missed in smaller or less frequent studies.

Context Within Broader Regulatory Environment

The Gambling Commission uses the survey results alongside other data sources to monitor the effectiveness of existing rules and to identify areas that may require further attention. Stable participation and problem gambling figures provide one reference point against which future waves can be measured, particularly as new products enter the market or as existing regulations evolve. Observers who follow the sector often highlight that large-scale surveys like this one offer a counterbalance to anecdotal reports, because they draw from a representative cross-section rather than from self-selected groups who contact support services. The third annual report therefore adds another data point to an accumulating evidence base that stretches back to the survey's launch.

Conclusion

The third annual Gambling Survey for Great Britain report supplies updated statistics on participation, problem gambling, attitudes, and consequences for teh 2023–2025 period, and the headline numbers show continuity rather than abrupt change. With a sample of around 20,000 respondents each year, the study supplies a detailed foundation for tracking developments in the years ahead, and the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) Annual Report 2025 stands as the latest installment in that ongoing series. Future releases will indicate whether the current stability persists or whether new patterns begin to appear in the data.