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Problem and at-risk gambling

Problem gambling means gambling to a degree that compromises, disrupts, or damages family, personal, or recreational pursuits. The Gambling Commission’s most robust sources of statistics on the prevalence of problem and at-risk gambling are the national health surveys. You can view the latest health survey data (opens in new tab).

The Gambling Commission also tracks problem gambling data via the quarterly telephone survey to provide a more regular and up to date measure of problem gambling prevalence. The Commission is currently piloting a new approach for collecting gambling participation and prevalence data in the future. Further details on participation and prevalence can be found on our website.

Using the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) mini screen, the data for year to December 2022 shows the problem gambling rate to be 0.2 percent (statistically stable since year to December 2021). In addition, for year to December 2022, the low risk rate sits at 1.7 percent, also statistically stable compared to year to December 2021. There has however been a significant increase in the moderate risk rate (1.3 percent in year to December 2022) compared to 0.8 percent in year to December 2021.

Figure 5: Low risk, moderate risk and problem gamblers (according to the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) mini-screen)

A bar chart showing the rate of low risk, moderate risk and problem gamblers (according to the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) mini-screen). Data from this chart is within the following table.

Data from chart

Low risk, moderate risk and problem gamblers (according to the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) mini-screen).
Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) mini-screen Year to Dec 2018 (percent) Year to Dec 2019 (percent) Year to Dec 2020 (percent) Year to Dec 2021 (percent) Year to Dec 2022 (percent) Significant 2021 to 2022†
Low risk 3.3% 2.7% 2.0% 1.9% 1.7% No
Moderate risk 1.5% 1.2% 0.9% 0.8% 1.3% Yes
Problem gambler 0.5% 0.6% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% No

† Statistically significant change from Year to December 2021 at the 95 percent level.

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Last updated: 3 May 2023

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