Cookies on the Gambling Commission website

The Gambling Commission website uses cookies to make the site work better for you. Some of these cookies are essential to how the site functions and others are optional. Optional cookies help us remember your settings, measure your use of the site and personalise how we communicate with you. Any data collected is anonymised and we do not set optional cookies unless you consent.

Set cookie preferences

You've accepted all cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.

Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. About us
  3. Young People and Gambling 2023: Official statistics

Report

Young People and Gambling 2023: Official statistics

Gambling Commission report produced by Ipsos on young people and their gambling behaviour, attitudes and awareness in 2023.

Published
16 November 2023

Last updated
16 November 2023 - Changes

Document actions
Print or save (opens in new tab)

Contents

Following gambling companies on social media

A minority of young people (15 percent) said that they followed gambling companies on social media websites, typically using YouTube (10 percent), followed by TikTok (9 percent) and Instagram (7 percent).

Figure 32: Exposure to gambling on social media

A bar chart showing exposure to gambling on social media, from 'No, I don't use social media and/or streaming platforms' to 'Yes, on YouTube'. Data from the chart is provided within the following table.

Figure 32 information

GC_SOCIALMED. Do you follow any gambling companies on any of the following social media or streaming platforms?
Base: All participants answering (2,650).
Note: This is a multiple response question, so the responses shown will not add up to 100 percent.

Figure 32: Exposure to gambling on social media.
Response Percentage who have seen (multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent)
Yes, on YouTube 10%
Yes, on TikTok 9%
Yes, on Instagram 7%
Yes, on Snapchat 5%
Yes, on Facebook 4%
Yes, on Twitter 4%
Yes, on Twitch 4%
No, I don’t follow any gambling on social media and/or streaming platforms 68%
No, I don’t use social media and/or streaming platforms 3%
Don’t know/can’t remember 13%

In line with differences in rates of gambling, boys were more likely than girls to follow gambling companies on social media (18 percent, compared with 12 percent). This is consistent with the finding that boys were more likely than girls to have seen adverts on social media.

Young people who had spent their own money on gambling in the last 7 days and 13 year olds were more likely to follow gambling companies on social media or streaming platforms (28 percent and 19 percent, respectively, compared with the overall figure of 15 percent). 17 year olds were less likely to follow any gambling companies on social media and/or streaming platforms, compared to 11 to 13 year olds and 14 to 16 year olds (73 percent, compared to 64 percent and 71 percent, respectively).

The amount of young people who followed gambling companies on social media has increased by 2 percentage points in comparison to 2022 (13 percent). Boys are also 2 percentage points more likely to follow these pages in comparison to 2022 (16 percent).

Previous section
Whether ever prompted to gamble by adverts and promotions
Is this page useful?
Back to top