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
-
- 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 types of gambling activities
Each category of gambling had individual activities listed within it (see definitions at the beginning of the chapter). The most popular individual activity was arcade gaming machines (for example penny pushers or claw grab machines), with 35 percent of young people having played them within the last 12 months. The next most frequently cited activities were placing a bet for money between friends or family (19 percent), playing bingo somewhere other than a bingo club (10 percent), playing cards for money (9 percent), playing fruit or slot machines (7 percent), and National Lottery scratchcards (7 percent).
The following groups were more likely to have played arcade gaming machines:
- those who had previously seen family members gamble (45 percent) and those who consider themselves to be risk-takers (39 percent)
- those from white ethnic groups (39 percent, compared with 26 percent of young people from ethnic minority groups)
- younger pupils (37 percent of 11 to 13 year olds, compared with 35 percent overall).
Figure 1.3: Experience in gambling activities in the last 12 months, top 10 individual activities
Figure 1.3 information
GC_GAMSPEND. Have you ever done any of the following activities?
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 in gambling activities in the last 12 months, top 10 individual activities | 2025 (percentage) (this is a multiple response question; therefore, answers do not sum to 100 percent) |
|---|---|
| Played arcade gaming machines | 35% |
| Placed a bet for money between friends or family | 19% |
| Played bingo at somewhere other than a bingo club | 10% |
| Played cards for money | 9% |
| Played fruit or slot machines | 7% |
| National Lottery scratchcards | 7% |
| Placed a bet on a betting website and/or app (for example on football or horse racing) | 3% |
| National Lottery draw (for example Lotto, EuroMillions or Set for Life, either with a physical ticket or playing online) | 3% |
| Placing a bet at a betting shop or bookies (for example on football or horse racing) | 3% |
| Played casino games online (for example online poker or online roulette for money) | 3% |
Looking at participation in gambling activities over time, there are 2 notable changes, namely the proportion of young people who had played arcade gaming machines and who had placed a bet for money between friends or family (the 2 most frequent gambling activities). Participation in both increased from 2024 to 2025. All other activities do not show a significant change, as illustrated in Table 1.3.
Table 1.3: Experience of gambling activities 2024 to 2025
GC_GAMSPEND. Have you ever done any of the following activities?
Base: All answering 2024 (3,869), 2025 (3,666).
Note: This is a multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent.
| Experience in gambling activities in the last 12 months, top 10 individual activities 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Played arcade gaming machines | 31% | 35% | Significant increase |
| Placed a bet for money between friends or family | 17% | 19% | Significant increase |
| Played bingo at somewhere other than a bingo club | 9% | 10% | No significant difference |
| Played cards for money | 8% | 9% | No significant difference |
| Played fruit or slot machines | 7% | 7% | No significant difference |
| National Lottery scratchcards | 7% | 7% | No significant difference |
| Placed a bet on a betting website and/or app | 3% | 3% | No significant difference |
| National Lottery draw (for example Lotto, EuroMillions or Set for Life, either with a physical ticket or playing online) | 3% | 3% | No significant difference |
| Placed a bet at a betting shop or bookies (for example on football or horse racing) | 3% | 3% | No significant difference |
| Played casino games online (for example online poker or online roulette for money) | 3% | 3% | No significant difference |
Experience of different categories of gambling activities Next section
Who young people were with when they gambled
Last updated: 13 November 2025
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