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Report

Young People and Gambling 2026: Official statistics

Gambling Commission report produced by Ipsos on young people and their gambling behaviour, attitudes and awareness in 2026.

Published
12 November 2026

Last updated
12 November 2026 - Changes

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Contents

Overall experience of playing games and gaming machines

This section covers the types of games and gaming machines young people play. As reported in the wider experience and active involvement in gambling section, gaming-based activities were particularly common among young people, with arcade gaming machines emerging as the single most popular activity across all gambling and gaming activities included in the survey. Just over 3 in 10 (32%) young people had played arcade gaming machines in the last 12 months.

Playing arcade machines is more prevalent among younger age groups (33% of 11 to 15 year olds), compared with 16 to 17 year olds (27%). There were also differences by ethnicity, with just over a third (35%) of young people who are white playing arcade games compared with 28% of young people from ethnic minorities.

Young people who had seen family members gamble were more likely to have played arcade gaming machines in the last 12 months than those who had not (37%, compared with 31%). A similar pattern was evident among young people who described themselves as ‘risk-takers’, with participation in arcade gaming machines play higher among this group than among those who did not identify as risk-takers (36%, compared with 30%). These findings suggest that both exposure to gambling within the family and a greater propensity for risk-taking are associated with higher engagement in arcade gaming machines. Similar patterns were observed across the wider category of games and gaming machines.

While card-playing for money was undertaken by a relatively small proportion of young people overall (8%), participation varied by both gender and age. Boys were more likely than girls to have played cards for money in the last year (9%, compared with 6%), while prevalence increased markedly with age, from 2% among 11 year olds to 13% among 16 year olds. The stronger age-related pattern suggests that engagement with this activity is more closely related to age than gender.

Playing on other types of gaming or gambling machines were less common among 11 to 17 year olds. This is to be expected as these machines are age restricted whereas arcade gaming machines are not. Of young people, 1 in 20 (5%) had played fruit or slot machines in the last 12 months, while 1% had played gambling machines in a betting shop. Those aged 14 to 17 were more likely to report playing fruit or slot machines (6%), compared with those in the younger age group (4% of 11 to 13 year olds). In addition, those who are white were more likely to play fruit or slot machines, compared with young people from ethnic minorities (6%, compared with 4%).

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