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
Who young people were with when they gambled
Young people were asked who they were with the last time they gambled. Typically, they were with a parent, carer or guardian (75 percent). Two in five young people were with a friend who was aged 17 or younger (40 percent) or with a sibling (41 percent), including 26 percent who were with a brother or sister aged 17 or younger. Less than 1 in 10 (8 percent) were alone.
Figure 1.4: Who young people were with when they experienced gambling activities
Figure 1.4 information
GAMSPEND2. Last time you did [this activity or these activities] who were you with?
Base: All 11 to 17 year olds who selected any activity 1 to 17 at GAMSPEND 2025 (2,542).
Note: this is a multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent.
| Who young people were with when they experienced gambling activities | 2025 (percentage) (this is a multiple response question; therefore, answers do not sum to 100 percent) |
|---|---|
| Parent(s), carer(s) or guardian(s) | 75% |
| Friend(s) aged 17 or younger | 40% |
| Brother(s) or sister(s) aged 17 or younger | 26% |
| Brother(s) or sister(s) aged 18 or older | 15% |
| I was alone | 8% |
| Friend(s) aged 18 or older | 6% |
| Others | 9% |
| Do not know | 6% |
The pattern of who young people were with when they last gambled is broadly similar to that reported in 2024. However, the data shows a rise in the number of young people gambling with friends aged 17 or younger, from 37 percent in 2024 to 40 percent in 2025, and a slight reduction in those gambling alone, decreasing from 10 percent to 8 percent. This aligns with increased participation in activities like playing arcade gaming machines and placing bets, often done in social settings with peers.
Table 1.4: Who young people were with when they experienced gambling activities 2024 to 2025
GAMSPEND2. Last time you did [this activity or these activities] who were you with?
Base: All answering who selected any activity 1 to 17 at GAMSPEND 2024 (2,331), 2025 (2,542).
Note: This is a multiple response question, therefore answers do not sum to 100 percent.
| Who young people were with when they experienced gambling activities in 2024 and 2025 | 2024 (percentage) | 2025 (percentage) | Statistical difference 2025 compared with 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent(s), carer(s) or guardian(s) | 73% | 75% | No significant difference |
| Friend(s) aged 17 or younger | 37% | 40% | Significant increase |
| Brother(s) or sister(s) aged 17 or younger | 26% | 26% | No significant difference |
| Brother(s) or sister(s) aged 18 or older | 14% | 15% | No significant difference |
| I was alone | 10% | 8% | Significant decrease |
| Friend(s) aged 18 or older | 7% | 6% | No significant difference |
| Others | 9% | 9% | No significant difference |
| Do not know | 6% | 6% | No significant difference |
Experience of different types of gambling activities Next section
Being stopped from gambling for being too young
Last updated: 13 November 2025
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