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.

Please give us feedback on our Gambling participation in 2019: behaviour, awareness and attitudes report.

Gambling participation (year to Dec 2019)

47%	of people have gambled in the past four weeks
32%	of people have gambled in the past four weeks (excluding those who had only played the National Lottery draws)
21%	of people have gambled online in the past four weeks

Online gambling behaviour (year to Dec 2019)

50%	of online gamblers have gambled through a mobile in the past four weeks
15%	of online gamblers, gambled in the workplace
56%	of online gamblers have more than one online account

Consumers

51%	of respondents have seen a gambling advertisement on television in the last week
29%	of respondents agreed that gambling is conducted fairly and can be trusted
43%	of respondents think that gambling is associated with crime

 

Problem gambling

0.5%	of people aged 16+ in England are classified as problem gamblers according to the PGSI or DSM-IV (2018)

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 ABSG sets the strategy for research priorities, with a programme of research being delivered by GambleAware. 

Also see