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Report

Investigating the coherence and comparability of estimates from the GSGB with industry data from the Bingo Association

This report investigates the coherence and comparability of estimates from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) with industry data from the Bingo Association

Published
9 April 2026

Last updated
9 April 2026 - Changes

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  1. Contents
  2. Introduction

Introduction

The Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) is a core part of the Commission’s evidence base to help understand people’s gambling behaviours in Great Britain. As a relatively new source of data and in line with our approach of assessing multiple sources of data to develop a well rounded and robust evidence base for decision making, it is important to study the estimates from the GSGB alongside other sources of data on people’s gambling behaviours.

Following the publication of the first annual report from the GSGB in July 2024 and subsequent wave specific publications, we were approached by the Bingo Association (opens in new tab) who highlighted some differences between their own data on admissions to Bingo clubs in Great Britain and estimates from GSGB. As a result, we set about investigating the coherence and comparability of the estimates from the GSGB with the industry data.

Working collaboratively with the Bingo Association, we compared the data to try and understand reasons for the differences. We designed a new question for the GSGB which was added to the survey in January 20251, with the aim of creating a closer comparison with the Bingo Association’s data.

This report first gives an overview of the bingo sector and then explores the differences between the GSGB findings and data supplied by the Bingo Association, explaining what we did to improve comparability between the data sources. As the Bingo Association is the trade body representing licensed bingo clubs in Great Britain, this report primarily focuses on the land-based bingo sector (in essence, bingo played in-person at a venue).

Additionally, this work aligns with the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) review of the GSGB (opens in new tab), which included a recommendation ‘to investigate the coherence and comparability of GSGB statistics with other relevant data’. This exercise directly supports that recommendation.

References

1 Question wording on the GSGB: 'You mentioned that you have spent money playing bingo at a venue in the past 4 weeks, where did you play?'

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