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.
Contents
- Executive summary
- Wider experience of gambling
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- 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
- Trends in gambling behaviours: 2022 to 2025
- Young people’s exposure to gambling
- The impact of gambling on young people
- Gambling activities and gaming
- Perspectives on gambling: Awareness, attitudes and behaviours
- Appendices
Experience of different categories of gambling activities
Young people were shown a list of gambling activities and asked if they had taken part in any during the last 12 months. The activities have been grouped into categories for analysis purposes (see definitions at the beginning of the chapter).
The category that young people were most likely to have experience of was playing games and gaming machines, with 2 in 5 (39 percent) having done so within the past 12 months. This was followed by placing a bet (22 percent), playing bingo (13 percent), playing lotteries or lottery style games (9 percent), and playing casino games (3 percent).
Looking at these broad categories of gambling activities, there were 2 notable variations by gender:
- boys were more likely than girls to have played a casino game (4 percent, compared with 1 percent)
- girls were more likely than boys to have played bingo (17 percent, compared with 10 percent).
In terms of differences by age, 14 to 17 year olds were more likely than 11 to 13 year olds to have placed a bet (24 percent, compared with 18 percent) or played a casino game (4 percent, compared with 2 percent).
Young people from white ethnic groups were more likely than those young people from ethnic minority backgrounds to have experience of all categories, except for casino games (where there is no statistically significant difference). Similarly, young people who have seen a family member gamble and those who consider themselves to be risk-takers were more likely to have experience of all categories of gambling activities.
Figure 1.2: Experience of gambling activities, by category, within the past 12 months
Figure 1.2 information
GC_GAMSPENDWHEN. When did you last do this activity? Was it…? Summary of gambling in last 7 days, 4 weeks or 12 months.
Base: All 11 to 17 year olds answering 2025 (3,666).
Note: This is a multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent.
| Experience of gambling activities, by category, in the last 12 months | 2025 (percentage) (this is a multiple response question; therefore, answers do not sum to 100 percent) |
|---|---|
| Games and gaming machines | 39% |
| Placing a bet | 22% |
| Bingo | 13% |
| Lotteries or lottery style games | 9% |
| Casino games | 3% |
In the last 12 months, the proportion of young people who have engaged in gambling through games or gaming machines increased from 34 percent in 2024 to 39 percent in 2025. This rise largely accounts for the observed increase in overall gambling levels over this period. See Table 1.2 for more information.
Table 1.2: Experience of gambling activities by category 2024 to 2025
GC_GAMSPENDWHEN. When did you last do this activity? Was it...? Summary of gambling in last 7 days, 4 weeks or 12 months.
Base: All answering 2024 (3,869), 2025 (3,666).
Note: This is a multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent.
In 2025 the wording used to describe casino games was updated to clarify the difference between casino play in ‘real life’ as opposed to online on a casino website.
| Experience of gambling activities, by category, in the last 12 months in 2024 and 2025 | 2024 (percentage) (multiple response question, therefore, answers do not sum to 100 percent) |
2025 (percentage) (multiple response question, therefore, answers do not sum to 100 percent) |
Statistical difference 2025 compared with 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Games and gaming machines | 34% | 39% | Significant increase |
| Placing a bet | 20% | 22% | Significant increase |
| Bingo | 12% | 13% | No significant difference |
| Lotteries or lottery style games | 9% | 9% | No significant difference |
| Casino games | 3% | 3% | No significant difference |
Wider experience and active involvement in gambling Next section
Experience of different types of gambling activities
Last updated: 13 November 2025
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