Report
Gambling Survey for Great Britain - Wave 4, September 2025 to January 2026 report: Official statistics
Gambling Survey for Great Britain - Wave 4, September 2025 to January 2026 report
Response to the survey
Address-level response rates
In total, 22,302 addresses were issued. In remote surveys (that is where participants complete the survey independently without any involvement from an interviewer), no information is known about the reason for non-response in individual addresses. However, it was assumed that around 9 percent of addresses in the sample (2,007) were not residential and were therefore ineligible to complete the survey1.
In total, 3,688 addresses were productive. The adjusted address-level response rate, that is the proportion of eligible addresses where a questionnaire was completed by at least one adult, was 18 percent (lower than the target of 22 percent). There was no response from 16,568 addresses and a further 39 addresses had an individual contact the office to say they did not wish or were unable to take part.
Table A.1: (Address-level response rates) summarises this.
Table A.1: Address-level response rates
| Response of issued addresses | Total addresses (number) | Total addresses (percentage) | Total eligible (percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Issued addresses | 22,302 | 100% | Not applicable |
| Assumed ineligible | 2,007 | 9% | Not applicable |
| Assumed eligible (residential addresses) | 20,295 | 91% | 100% |
| Refusal or unable to take part | 39 | 0% | 0% |
| No response | 16,568 | 74% | 82% |
| Productive addresses | 3,688 | 17% | 18% |
Table A.2 (Address-level response, by country and Government Office Region) shows the breakdown of the issued sample in England, Scotland, and Wales, and English regions and the household response rate in each country and region. In total, 86 percent of the issued addresses were in England, 9 percent in Scotland and 5 percent in Wales. The household response rate was 18 percent in England, 19 percent in Scotland and 19 percent in Wales. In English regions2, the highest response rate was achieved in the South West (22 percent) and the lowest in London (14 percent).
Table A.2: Address-level response, by country and Government office region
| Country and/or Government office region | Total issued addresses (number) | Total issued addresses (percentage) | Total assumed eligible addresses (number) | Total assumed eligible addresses (percentage) | Total productive addresses (number) | Household response rate (percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 19,147 | 86% | 17,424 | 86% | 3,154 | 18% |
| North East | 974 | 4% | 886 | 4% | 157 | 18% |
| North West | 2,589 | 12% | 2,356 | 12% | 409 | 17% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 1,881 | 8% | 1,712 | 8% | 301 | 18% | East Midlands | 1,654 | 7% | 1,505 | 7% | 282 | 19% | West Midlands | 1,956 | 9% | 1,780 | 9% | 328 | 18% | East of England | 2,115 | 9% | 1,925 | 9% | 345 | 18% | London | 2,868 | 13% | 2,610 | 13% | 365 | 14% | South East | 3,092 | 14% | 2,814 | 14% | 569 | 20% | South West | 2,018 | 9% | 1,836 | 9% | 398 | 22% | Scotland | 2,042 | 9% | 1,858 | 9% | 346 | 19% |
| Wales | 1,113 | 5% | 1,013 | 5% | 188 | 19% |
| All addresses | 22,302 | 100% | 20,295 | 100% | 3,688 | 18% |
Individual-level response rates
Following the process of removing duplicate responses3, cases deemed to have completed the online questionnaire too quickly to have properly engaged with the questions, and cases above the maximum 2 completions per household4, it was assumed that all responses in the dataset were from 5,210 unique individuals who had completed the questionnaire.
In total, 44 percent of the responding unweighted sample were male, and 56 percent were female, as shown in Table A.3 (Individual-level response, by sex and age). This under-representation of males is similar to that seen in the latest published results for other surveys with the same completion modes, for example, the British Social Attitudes (BSA) 2022 survey - BSA 40 Technical details (opens in new tab)(pdf). In total, 44 percent of the BSA 2022 unweighted main sample were male and 56 percent female.
Those in the youngest age group were the least likely to take part: 6 percent of responding adults were aged 18 to 24 years, whereas this age group makes up 11 percent of the adult population of Great Britain. Conversely, 18 percent of responding adults were aged 65 to 74 years, whereas this group makes up 12 percent of the population. (Table A.3 Individual-level response, by age and sex).
This difference in taking part was particularly pronounced among male participants aged 18 to 24 years and 25 to 34 years. Men aged 18 to 24 years accounted for 6 percent of the male sample (this age-sex group makes up 11 percent of the male adult population of Great Britain). Men aged 25 to 34 years made up 5 percent of the male sample compared with the 17 percentage of the male adult population. The equivalent proportions for females were 7 percent in the sample and 10 percent in the population aged 18 to 24 years, and 16 percent and 17 percent respectively for those aged 25 to 34 years. The national percentages are based on the 2023 mid-year population estimates for Great Britain: Estimates of the population for the UK, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) (opens in a new tab).
Table A.3: Individual-level response, by age and sex
| Age group (years) | Total participants: male (percentage) | Total participants: female (percentage) | Total participants: all (percentage) | Total Great Britain population: adult males (percentage) | Total Great Britain population: adult females (percentage) | Total Great Britain population: all adults (percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 to 24 | 6% | 7% | 6% | 11% | 10% | 11% | 25 to 34 | 12% | 16% | 14% | 17% | 17% | 17% | 35 to 44 | 16% | 16% | 16% | 17% | 17% | 17% | 45 to 54 | 14% | 15% | 15% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 55 to 64 | 18% | 17% | 17% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 65 to 74 | 19% | 17% | 18% | 12% | 12% | 12% | 75 and over | 16% | 12% | 14% | 11% | 13% | 12% | All participants | 44% | 56% | 100% | 48% | 52% | 100% | Unweighted bases (number) | 2,290 | 2,913 | 5,203 | 25,521,421 | 27,191,262 | 52,712,683 |
Table A.4: (Individual-level response, by mode of completion and sex) shows response rates by mode of completion, overall and for males and females separately. Overall, 69 percent (3,5895) completed the survey online and 31 percent (1,6146) completed a postal questionnaire. These results are broadly in line with expectations, based on development stages of the GSGB.
Table A.4: Individual-level response, by mode of completion and sex
| Sex | Individual-level response: Online completions (percentage) | Individual-level response: Postal completions (percentage) | Individual-level response: Total completions (percentage) | Individual-level response: Total completions (number) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males | 69% | 31% | 44% | 2,290 |
| Females | 69% | 31% | 56% | 2,913 |
| All participants | 69% | 31% | 100% | 5,203 |
| Unweighted bases (number) | 3,589 | 1,614 | 5,203 | 5,203 |
There was little difference between males and females in the mode of completion. In all age groups, except those aged 75 and over, a higher proportion of participants completed the survey online than filled in the postal questionnaire. Of those aged 75 and over, 33 percent completed the survey online compared with between 51 percent and 91 percent of those in the younger age groups as shown in Table A.5 (Individual-level response, by mode of completion and age).
Table A.5: Individual-level response, by mode of completion and age
| Age group (years) | Individual-level response: Online completions (percentage) | Individual-level response: Postal completions (percentage) | Individual-level response: Total completions (number) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 to 24 | 89% | 11% | 330 |
| 25 to 34 | 91% | 9% | 729 |
| 35 to 44 | 88% | 12% | 836 |
| 45 to 54 | 78% | 22% | 774 |
| 55 to 64 | 65% | 35% | 896 |
| 65 to 74 | 51% | 49% | 919 |
| 75 and over | 33% | 67% | 726 |
| All participants | 69% | 31% | 5,210 |
| Unweighted bases (number) | 3,592 | 1,618 | 5,210 |
The mode of survey completion was similar for those who participated in gambling in the past 4 weeks and those who did not, with 71 percent of those who participated in gambling in the past 4 weeks completing the survey online and 69 percent of those who did not, as shown in Table A.6 (Individual-level response, by mode of completion and gambling participation in the past 4 weeks).
Table A.6: Individual-level response, by mode of completion and gambling participation in the past 4 weeks
| Gambling prevalence in the past 4 weeks | Individual-level response: Online completions (percentage) | Individual-level response: Postal completions (percentage) | Individual-level response: Total completions (number) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gambled in the past 4 weeks | 71% | 29% | 2,366 |
| Not gambled in the past 4 weeks | 69% | 31% | 2,766 |
| Unweighted bases (number) | 3,586 | 1,546 | 5,132 |
References
1When estimating the proportion of ineligible addresses on an online survey, it is best practice to assume the same ineligibility rate as a recent face-to-face survey which uses the same sample frame and sampling approach and for which detailed outcomes are known for the entire issued sample. Ineligibility rates in Postcode Address File (PAF) face-to-face surveys tend to fall between 8 percent and 10 percent and 9 percent is the rate recorded in the most recent face-to-face British Social Attitudes Survey (2019) and so has been used as an appropriate default for this survey.
2Regions are shown only for England because the sample is so big, and the Scotland and Wales samples are equivalent to the size of an English region.
3Where a single participant completed the survey a second time.
4Where more than 2 people in a household completed the survey (for example, 2 completing the survey online and 2 different people completing postal questionnaires.
5Including 3 participants where sex could not be derived.
6Including 4 participants where sex could not be derived.
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GSGB Wave 4, September 2025 to January 2026 report - Questionnaire completion times
Last updated: 4 June 2026
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