Report

Young People and Gambling 2024: Official statistics

Gambling Commission report produced by Ipsos on young people and their gambling behaviour, attitudes and awareness in 2024.

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Published
7 November 2024

Last updated
18 December 2024 - Changes

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Contents

• Young People and Gambling 2024: Official statistics

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• Executive summary
• • Introduction
  • Headline statistics
  • Presentation and interpretation of data
  • Acknowledgements
• Young people’s active involvement in gambling
• • Summary
  • Definitions
  • Young people's active involvement in gambling
  • The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition – Multiple Response Juvenile (DSM-IV-MR-J) problem gambling screen
• The impacts of gambling on young people
• • Summary
  • The impact of gambling on relationships
  • Young people’s feelings when gambling
  • The impact of gambling on young people’s engagement with school and homework
  • The impact of gambling on young people’s sleep
  • The impact of gambling on spending
  • Experience of ever seeing a family member gambling
  • The impact of family members’ gambling on young people
• Wider experience of gambling
• • Summary
  • Wider experience and active involvement in gambling
  • Experience of different gambling activities
  • Who young people were with when they experienced gambling activities
  • Being stopped from gambling for being too young
  • Setting gambling in the context of other risk taking behaviours
• Games and gaming machines
• • Summary
  • Young people spending their own money on games and gaming machines
  • Overall experience of playing games and gaming machines
  • Who young people were with when they played gaming machines
  • Types of gaming machine played
  • Playing arcade machines in adults-only areas
• Online gambling
• • Summary
  • Young people’s active involvement in online gambling
  • Overall experience of online gambling
  • Online gambling using parents’ or guardians’ accounts
  • Paying for and betting with in-game items in video games
  • Methods of paying for in-game items and to open loot boxes
• Lotteries and lottery style games
• • Summary
  • Active involvement with lotteries and lottery style games
  • Wider experience of lotteries and lottery style games
  • Buying a National Lottery draw ticket or scratchcard
  • Who young people were with when playing lotteries and lottery style games
• Attitudes towards gambling and reasons for gambling
• • Summary
  • Reasons why young people gamble
  • Reasons why young people do not gamble
  • Feeling informed about gambling
• Recall of gambling adverts and promotion
• • Summary
  • Recall of gambling advertising or promotions
  • Frequency of seeing or hearing gambling adverts or promotions
  • Perceived impact of gambling adverts on unplanned spending
  • Engagement with gambling related content on social media and streaming platforms
• Appendices
• • Applying the DSM-IV-MR-J youth adapted problem gambling screen
  • Research design
  • Sample profile
• List of gambling activities and definitions
• • List of gambling activities
  • Definitions

Engagement with gambling related content on social media and streaming platforms

Almost 1 in 6 (17 percent) young people highlighted that they followed gambling companies (including those who provide betting, bingo and lottery activities and gamblers who stream their gambling or provide content about it) through at least one social media and/or streaming platform.

The most frequently cited platforms were TikTok (cited by 10 percent of young people), YouTube (9 percent), Instagram (6 percent) and Snapchat (6 percent).

Figure 8.4: Engagement with gambling related content on social media and streaming platforms

Figure 8.4 information

GC_SOCIALMED. Do you follow any gambling related content on social media or streaming platforms? This includes all gambling companies (betting, bingo and lottery activities), and gamblers who stream their gambling or provide content about it.
Base: All participants answering 2024 (3,178).
Note: This is a multiple response question, so the responses shown will not add up to 100 percent.

Engagement with gambling related content on social media and streaming platforms

Response	2024 (percentage) (multiple response question, answers do not sum to 100 percent)
Yes	17%
Yes, on TikTok	10%
Yes, on YouTube	9%
Yes, on Instagram	6%
Yes, on Snapchat	6%
Yes, on Facebook	4%
Yes, on Twitch	4%
Yes, on Twitter	3%
No	72%
No, I do not follow any gambling on social media and/or streaming platforms	67%
No, I do not use social media and/or streaming platforms	5%
Do not know or cannot remember	12%

Boys were more likely than girls to follow gambling companies through at least one social media and/or streaming platform (21 percent, compared to 11 percent).

Those young people who had seen a family member gamble were more likely than those who had not to follow gambling companies on social media and/or streaming platforms (24 percent, compared to 13 percent).

There has been an increase between 2022 and 2024 in the proportion of young people who follow gambling companies on social media and/or streaming platforms (from 13 percent to 17 percent). This has been driven by increases on TikTok (increased from 7 percent to 10 percent) and Snapchat (increased from 4 percent to 6 percent).

Table 8.4: Engagement with gambling related content on social media and streaming platforms in 2022, 2023, and 2024

Table 8.4 information

GC_SOCIALMED. Do you follow any gambling companies on any of the following social media or streaming platforms?
Base: All participants answering 2022 (2,207), 2023 (2,650) 2024 (3,178).
Note: This is a multiple response question, so the responses shown will not add up to 100 percent.

Table 8.4: Engagement with gambling related content on social media and streaming platforms in 2022, 2023, and 2024

Response	2022 (percentage) (multiple response question, therefore, answers do not sum to 100 percent)	2023 (percentage) (multiple response question, therefore, answers do not sum to 100 percent)	2024 (percentage) (multiple response question, therefore, answers do not sum to 100 percent)	Statistical differences 2024 compared to 2022	Statistical differences 2024 compared to 2023
Yes	13%	15%	17%	Significant increase	No significant difference
Yes, on TikTok	7%	9%	10%	Significant increase	No significant difference
Yes, on YouTube	9%	10%	9%	No significant difference	No significant difference
Yes, on Instagram	6%	7%	6%	No significant difference	No significant difference
Yes, on Snapchat	4%	5%	6%	Significant increase	No significant difference
Yes, on Facebook	4%	4%	4%	No significant difference	No significant difference
Yes, on Twitch	3%	4%	4%	Significant increase	No significant difference
Yes, on Twitter	3%	4%	3%	No significant difference	No significant difference
No	75%	72%	72%	Significant decrease	No significant difference
No, I do not follow any gambling on social media and/or streaming platforms	71%	68%	67%	Significant decrease	No significant difference
No, I do not use social media and/or streaming platforms	4%	3%	5%	Significant increase	Significant increase
Do not know or cannot remember	12%	13%	12%	No significant difference	No significant difference

Previous section
Perceived impact of gambling adverts on unplanned spending

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Last updated: 18 December 2024

Show updates to this content

Clarification added to figure 8.4 information.