Statistics and research release
Statistics on gambling participation – Wave 1, 2025: Official statistics
Findings from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain: Statistics on gambling participation
Summary
Also published recently
The data being released today is the latest edition of the Gambling Commission’s Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) conducted by the National Centre for Social Research. A nationally representative sample of 4,932 adults aged 18 and over were surveyed during the period 13 January 2025 to 27 April 2025.
Further details on the GSGB methodology can be found in the GSGB Wave 1, 2025 report and the GSGB technical report.
The GSGB, like most other surveys, collects information from a sample of the population. Statistics based on surveys are estimates, rather than precise figures, and are subject to a margin of error (a 95 percent confidence interval). All surveys have strengths and limitations and we have outlined the strengths and limitations of our approach in the data analysis and reporting section of the technical report .
We have also published guidance on how to use the statistics from the GSGB.
Key facts
Overall participation in any gambling activity (in the past 4 weeks) was 48 percent. Despite a significant increase from the previous wave (46 percent), this figure is consistent with participation levels we saw for the same period in 2024.
Approximately one fifth of respondents (21 percent) only took part in lottery draws (either National Lottery or other charity lottery draws) in the past 4 weeks. This means when we exclude those who only took part in a lottery draw in the past 4 weeks from the overall gambling participation rate, gambling participation falls to 27 percent.
Overall gambling participation is highest for those aged 55 to 64 (54 percent). However, removing lottery draw only players, shifts the age profile downwards, resulting in those aged 35 to 44 having the highest gambling participation rates in the past 4 weeks (36 percent).
Overall, the most popular gambling activities following lottery draws remains being scratchcards (13 percent), betting (9 percent) and online instant win games (8 percent).
Participation in National Lottery draws significantly increased by 3 percentage points from the end of 2024, from 29 percent to 32 percent in Wave 1, 2025. Although this represents a significant change compared to the previous wave, the data for the same period in 2024 (January to April) remains consistent with findings from this publication. This begins to highlight both the wave-on-wave differences and the consistent seasonal patterns in gambling participation throughout the year.
The online gambling participation rate (in the past 4 weeks) was 38 percent, which falls to 16 percent when lottery draw only players are removed. This is consistent with figures we saw for the same time last year.
The most popular online gambling activities in the past 4 weeks were buying tickets for a National Lottery draw online (26 percent), buying tickets for other charity lottery draws online (15 percent) and betting on sports and racing online or via an app (8 percent).
The in person gambling participation rate (in the past 4 weeks) was 27 percent, which falls to 18 percent when lottery draw only players are removed. The most popular in person gambling activities in the past 4 weeks were buying tickets for a National Lottery draw (16 percent), buying a scratchcard (13 percent) and buying tickets for another charity lottery draw in-person (6 percent).
Gambling ‘for the chance to win big money and ‘because it’s fun’ remain the most popular reasons given as to why respondents gambled.
Details
The statistics presented in this report comprise our official statistics on gambling participation. The data presented from the GSGB is not directly comparable to previous gambling survey publications due to changes in the methodology.
The next quarterly publication in this series (Wave 2, 2025) will be released on 4 December 2025.
Notes
This publication is primarily for anyone who has an involvement or interest in the gambling industry including government, licensed operators, trade bodies, international regulators, journalists, academic researchers, financial institutions, statisticians, consumers and local authorities.
For guidance on how to correctly report and or use the data from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB), see the guidance page.
About the status of official statistics.
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We are always keen to hear how these statistics are used and would welcome your views on this publication.