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
Engagement with gambling related content on social media
Around 1 in 6 (16 percent) young people 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 (11 percent), YouTube (9 percent), Instagram (6 percent) and Snapchat (6 percent).
Figure 4.4: Engagement with gambling-related content on social media and streaming platforms within the past 12 months
Figure 4.4 information
GC_SOCIALMED. Do you follow any gambling companies on any of the following social media or streaming platforms?
Base: All participants answering 2025 (3,519).
Note: this is a multiple response question, therefore answers will not add up to 100 percent.
| Social media and streaming platform engagement with gambling companies | 2025 (percentage) (this is a multiple response question; therefore, answers will not add up to 100 percent) |
|---|---|
| Yes | 16% |
| Yes, on TikTok | 11% |
| Yes, on YouTube | 9% |
| Yes, on Instagram | 6% |
| Yes, on Snapchat | 6% |
| Yes, on X | 4% |
| Yes, on Facebook | 3% |
| Yes, on Twitch | 3% |
| No | 74% |
| No, I do not follow any gambling on social media and/or streaming platforms | 70% |
| No, I do not use social media and/or streaming platforms | 4% |
| Do not know or cannot remember | 10% |
There were variations by sub-group in terms of young people who were more likely to follow gambling companies on social media or streaming platforms, notably:
- young people actively involved in gambling within the last 12 months were significantly more likely to follow gambling companies through at least one social media and/or streaming platform (20 percent)
- boys were significantly more likely than girls to follow gambling companies through at least one social media and/or streaming platform (21 percent of boys, compared with 10 percent of girls)
- 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 (20 percent, compared with 13 percent).
It is also interesting to note that young people who do not feel well informed about the risks of gambling were more likely to follow gambling companies on social media or streaming platforms, than those who were informed (29 percent, and 15 percent, respectively).
The overall proportion of young people who follow gambling companies on social media or streaming platforms has remained at the same level (16 percent in 2025 and 17 percent in 2024), as has the split by the different types of social media, as shown in Table 4.4.
Table 4.4: Engagement with gambling-related content on social media and streaming platforms 2024 to 2025
GC_SOCIALMED. Do you follow any gambling companies on any of the following social media or streaming platforms?
Base: All answering 2024 (3,178), 2025 (3,519).
Note: This is a multiple response question, so the responses shown will not add up to 100 percent.
| Response | 2024 (percentage) (multiple response question, answers do not sum to 100 percent) |
2025 (percentage) (multiple response question, answers do not sum to 100 percent) |
Statistical differences 2025 compared with 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 17% | 16% | No significant difference |
| Yes, on TikTok | 10% | 11% | No significant difference |
| Yes, on YouTube | 9% | 9% | No significant difference |
| Yes, on Instagram | 6% | 6% | No significant difference |
| Yes, on Snapchat | 6% | 6% | No significant difference |
| Yes, on X | 3% | 4% | No significant difference |
| Yes, on Twitch | 4% | 3% | No significant difference |
| Yes, on Facebook | 4% | 3% | No significant difference |
Perceived impact of gambling adverts on unplanned spending Next section
The role of influencers in advertising gambling-related content
Last updated: 13 November 2025
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