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. Illegal gambling - Phase 4: Initial findings from new data on consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites

Report

Illegal gambling - Phase 4: Initial findings from new data on consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites

The initial findings from new data on consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites.

Published
5 November 2026

Last updated
5 November 2026 - Changes

Document actions
Print or save (opens in new tab)

Contents

How to read this report

This Phase 4 report presents initial findings from a new set of survey questions that have been incorporated into an Illegal Gambling Index, designed to provide an indication of engagement with illegal gambling websites. It should be read alongside the accompanying technical report, which:

  • explains the development of a new set of ‘illegal gambling’ questions to be integrated into the Gambling Commission’s Gambing Survey of Great Britian (GSGB), accompanied by a transparent explanation of the methodology used to develop these questions
  • outlines how the Commission could use these questions to track consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites over time, feeding into future monitoring and measurement of the impact of regulation
  • offers recommendations on how to repeat and update the question, and the accompanying metrics, over time, to ensure it remains relevant and reflects the contemporary consumer reality3.

Findings on consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites are presented both as a proportion of all respondents, representative of the adult population (including those who do not gamble), and for respondents who reported gambling online in the past 12 months, excluding those who only gambled online on National Lottery products4,5. Throughout this report, 'those who gambled online' therefore refers to this subset of survey respondents.

Although questions were only asked to respondents who reported gambling online in the past 12 months, findings were rebased to all respondents who completed the GSGB online survey to estimate the proportion of people using illegal gambling websites among the whole population (including those who do not gamble).

Findings are based on the first year of available data made up of 4 quarterly waves. Statistical significance testing was conducted at the 95% confidence level (p value less than 0.05). Where differences were found to be statistically significant, this has been made explicit in the report. The minimum base size for significance testing was 50 respondents. Figures yielded from a base size of fewer than 50 cases or a cell size of 0 are not shown, but are indicated by '-' in data tables.

Findings relating to engagement with illegal gambling websites within the past 4 weeks and past 12 months are mutually exclusive. Those who engaged in an illegal gambling website in the past 4 weeks were not included in the past 12-month category.

References

3 This report focuses on the specific Index scoring approach currently being used within the GSGB.

4 Here, this includes individuals who reported gambling online in the last 4 weeks and individuals who reported gambling online in the last 12 months.

5 This approach of excluding those who only gamble online on National Lottery products is consistent with previous phases of the research, ensuring focus on consumers with experience of the wider online gambling market, where exposure to illegal gambling websites may occur.

Previous section
Background - Initial findings from new data on consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites Next section
Details and methodology - Initial findings from new data on consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites
Is this page useful?
Back to top