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.

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Published
12 November 2026

Last updated
12 November 2026 - Changes

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Contents

• Young People and Gambling 2026: Official statistics

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• Executive summary
• • Introduction
  • Headlines
  • Survey strengths and limitations
  • Presentation and interpretation of data
  • Key terms used in the report
  • Acknowledgements
• Wider experience of gambling
• • Summary
  • Definitions
  • 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 experienced gambling
  • Being stopped from gambling for being too young
  • Gambling in the context of young people’s spare time activities
  • Gambling in the context of other risk-taking behaviours
• Active involvement in gambling and experience of problem gambling
• • Summary
  • Definitions
  • Young people's active involvement in gambling
  • Reasons why young people gamble
  • The youth adapted gambling screen
• Trends in gambling behaviours: 2022 to 2026
• • Summary
  • Experience of gambling
  • Active involvement in gambling
  • Trends in the youth adapted gambling screen
• Young people’s exposure to gambling
• • Summary
  • Recall of gambling advertising or promotions
  • Frequency of seeing or hearing gambling adverts or promotions
  • Perceived impact of gambling adverts on unplanned spending
  • Engagement with gambling-related content on social media
  • The role of influencers in advertising gambling-related content
• The impact of gambling on young people
• • Summary
  • Experience of ever seeing a family member gambling
  • Impact of seeing a family member gamble
  • Impact on sleep
  • Impact on wellbeing
  • Impact on school attendance and relationships
• Gambling activities and gaming
• • Summary
  • Overall experience of playing games and gaming machines
  • Types of gaming machine played
  • Playing arcade machines in adult-only areas
  • Who young people were with in an adult-only area
  • Online gambling
  • Lottery play
  • Gaming
• Perspectives on gambling: Awareness, attitudes and behaviours
• • Summary
  • Feeling informed about gambling
  • Speaking to someone about gambling problems
  • Feeling informed about gambling: 2025 to 2026
  • Reasons why young people do not gamble
  • Young people who consider themselves risk-takers
• Appendices
• • Introduction
  • The DSM-IV-MR-J problem gambler screen
  • Research design
  • List of gambling activities and definitions
  • Questionnaire

Frequency of seeing or hearing gambling adverts or promotions

Young people who reported seeing or hearing gambling advertising or promotions were asked how often they were exposed to this content. In 2026, the question was updated to capture whether young people saw or heard gambling advertising on a daily basis, providing a more detailed measure of the frequency of exposure. As a result, comparisons with previous years are not included here, as the wording and response options differ from those used in earlier surveys.

Young people were most likely to see gambling adverts at least weekly on social media (55%), live streaming or video sharing platforms (53%), TV (52%) and apps (51%).

There were variations by gender, with boys more likely than girls to recall having seen or heard gambling adverts or promotions at least once a week across the channels measured. The largest differences between boys and girls in seeing adverts at least once week were at a sports event (53% of boys, compared with 33% of girls), on social media (60% of boys, compared with 48% of girls), and on live streaming or video sharing platforms (57% of boys, compared with 47% of girls).

While gambling advertising reaches young people through a wide range of channels, daily exposure is most common in digital environments. Social media (22%) and live streaming or video-sharing platforms (21%) were the channels through which young people were most likely to encounter gambling advertising on a daily basis, highlighting the prominent role of online media in driving frequent exposure. In contrast, daily exposure through traditional media and offline channels was less common, generally reported by around 1 in 8 to 1 in 7 young people.

Figure 4.2: Frequency of seeing or hearing gambling adverts or promotions (proportion who had seen or heard at least once a week) within the past 12 months

Figure 4.2 information

GC_ADFREQ. And how often do you see or hear adverts or promotion about gambling in the following places?
Base: All participants answering. 'On social media' 2026 (2,280). 'On an app' 2026 (2,541). 'On TV' 2026 (2,566). 'On the radio' 2026 (1,519). 'On live streaming or video sharing platforms' 2026 (1,807). 'At a sports event' 2026 (1,903). 'On another website' 2026 (1,497). 'On a podcast' 2026 (798). 'On posters and/or billboards' 2026 (1,834). 'In newspapers or magazines' 2026 (1,520).
Note: This is a multiple response question, so the responses shown will not add up to 100%.

Frequency of seeing or hearing gambling adverts or promotions (proportion who had seen or heard at least once a week) within the past 12 months

Frequency of seeing or hearing gambling advertisements or promotions (at least once a week)	2026 (percentage) (this is a multiple response question; therefore, answers will not add up to 100%)
On social media (including Snapchat, Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok)	55%
On live streaming or video sharing platforms (including Twitch and YouTube)	53%
On TV	52%
On an app	51%
On the radio	49%
On another website	49%
At a sports event (for example at football stadiums or on players' shirts or around the pitch)	45%
On a podcast	41%
On posters or billboards	40%
In newspapers or magazines	38%

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Recall of gambling advertising or promotions Next section
Perceived impact of gambling adverts on unplanned spending

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Last updated: 12 November 2026

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