Gambling participation and problem gambling

Gambling behaviour is increasingly a subject of public health and policy interest. We regularly collect data on gambling both in terms of information about the consumer and about the method and frequency with which they gamble.

We collect participation data through quarterly telephone and online surveys and problem gambling data from the Health survey for England, Scottish health survey, and our Welsh problem gambling survey. We also monitor underage gambling using our young persons survey.

Read more information about problem gambling screens and the difference between problem gambling and gambling-related harms. 

This data provides the most robust information to date on gambling participation and problem gambling in Great Britain and provides a baseline for any future changes in gambling activity.

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Gambling participation

46%	of people have gambled in the past four weeks
51%	of men have gambled in the past four weeks
41%	of women have gambled in the past four weeks
18%	of people have gambled online in the past four weeks

Online gambling behaviour (year to Dec 2018)

96%	of online gamblers gamble at home
45%	of online gamblers gamble using a laptop
55%	of online gamblers gamble using a mobile or tablet device
23%	of online gamblers have bet in-play in the past four weeks

Problem gambling

0.7%	of people aged 16+ in Great Britain are classified as problem gamblers (2016)

Our activity also supports the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling (ABSG) objectives to advise on strategic priorities for research, education and treatment into minimising gambling-related harm. The RGSB sets the strategy for research priorities, with a programme of research being delivered by GambleAware. 

Also see