Report

Young People and Gambling 2025: Official statistics

Gambling Commission report produced by Ipsos on young people and their gambling behaviour, attitudes and awareness in 2025.

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Published
13 November 2025

Last updated
13 November 2025 - Changes

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Contents

• Young People and Gambling 2025: Official statistics

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• Executive summary
• • Introduction
  • Headline statistics
  • Presentation and interpretation of data
  • Key terms used in the report
  • Acknowledgements
• Wider experience of gambling
• • Summary
  • Wider experience and active involvement in gambling
  • Experience of different categories of gambling activities
  • Experience of different types of gambling activities
  • Who young people were with when they gambled
  • Being stopped from gambling for being too young
  • Gambling in the context of what young people do in their spare time
  • Gambling in the context of other risk taking behaviours
• Active involvement in gambling and experience of problem gambling
• • Summary
  • Definitions
  • Young people's active involvement in gambling
  • Reasons why young people gamble
  • The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition – Multiple Response Juvenile (DSM-IV-MR-J) screen
• Trends in gambling behaviours: 2022 to 2025
• • Summary
  • Experience of gambling 2022 to 2025
  • Active involvement in gambling 2022 to 2025
  • Trends in the DSM-IV-MR-J screen
• Young people’s exposure to gambling
• • 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
  • The role of influencers in advertising gambling-related content
• The impact of gambling on young people
• • Summary
  • Experience of ever seeing a family member gambling
  • Impact of seeing a family member gamble
  • The impact of gambling on school attendance
  • The impact of gambling on relationships
• Gambling activities and gaming
• • Summary
  • Overall experience of playing games and gaming machines
  • Types of gaming machine played
  • Playing arcade machines in adults-only areas
  • Who young people were with in an adult-only area
  • Online gambling
  • National Lottery play
  • Gaming
• Perspectives on gambling: Awareness, attitudes and behaviours
• • Summary
  • Feeling informed about gambling
  • Speaking to someone about gambling problems
  • Reasons why young people do not gamble
  • Young people who consider themselves risk-takers
• Appendices
• • The DSM-IV-MR-J problem gambler screen
  • Research design
  • List of gambling activities and definitions

Summary

This section focuses on young people’s experience and active involvement with gambling activities, games and gaming machines in the last 12 months. It highlights the most popular forms of gaming machines, as well as who young people were with when playing games, and the extent to which they have been played in adult-only areas of venues such as holiday parks and arcades.

Definitions

Games and gaming machines

This includes the following activities:

• played arcade gaming machines (for example penny pusher or claw grab machine)
• played fruit or slot machines (for example at an arcade, pub or social club)
• played gambling machines in a betting shop
• played cards for money (for example with friends or family).

Accessing adults-only areas

Young people who recalled playing arcade gaming machines were asked if they had ever done so in an adults-only area, for example an adults (18 years old and above) only section of an amusement arcade, bowling alley, holiday park or pub.

The data shows that arcade gaming machines were the most popular form of gaming among young people, with 35 percent having played these machines in the last 12 months. Fruit and slot machines (7 percent) and gambling machines in betting shops (1 percent) were less frequently played.

Among young people who played arcade gaming machines, claw or grab machines were the most popular (73 percent), followed by penny falls or penny pusher machines (68 percent). Around 1 in 10 (9 percent) young people with experience of arcade gaming machines reported having played a machine within an adult-only area. While the majority (57 percent) did so in the company of a parent, carer or guardian, 15 percent were alone.

The 2025 survey also examined young people's experiences with online gambling. Around 1 in 10 (8 percent) reported online gambling in the past 12 months. This includes 3 percent who had placed a bet on a betting website or app and 3 percent who played an online game on a casino website. Overall, 7 percent of young people used their parents' or guardians' accounts to access National Lottery games without permission, and 39 percent did so with permission. Similarly, 7 percent accessed gambling websites or placed online bets without permission, while 31 percent had permission.

In the past 12 months, 9 percent of young people engaged in lottery-style games. National Lottery scratchcards were the most popular format, played by 7 percent. Smaller proportions played the National Lottery draw (3 percent), National Lottery online instant win games (1 percent) or other lotteries (1 percent). The data reveals that the majority of young people who played the National Lottery draw (79 percent) and National Lottery scratchcards (94 percent) were bought the tickets or scratchcards by someone else, highlighting the role of third parties, such as parents, guardians or other family members, in facilitating gambling.

Awareness of in-game purchasing was high; 80 percent of young people were aware that you can buy items with either in-game or real money and of these, around 3 in 5 had bought virtual items with in-game money (64 percent) or their own money (60 percent). Gift cards were the most popular payment method (62 percent) for in-game items.

Next section
Overall experience of playing games and gaming machines

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Last updated: 13 November 2025

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