Statistics and research release
Statistics on gambling participation – Year 2 (2024), wave 4: Official statistics
Findings from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain: Statistics on gambling participation
Find out more about the Gambling Survey for Great Britain
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Summary
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The data being released today is the latest edition of the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) conducted by NatCen. A nationally representative sample of 5,191 adults aged 18 and over were surveyed during the period September 2024 to January 2025.
Further details on the GSGB methodology can be found in the GSGB Year 2 (2024), wave 4 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 46 percent, which has significantly decreased since the previous wave (49 percent). Across the headline activities, participation in lottery draws in the past 4 weeks has also significantly decreased between Wave 3 and Wave 4 (37 percent to 34 percent)
Approximately one fifth of respondents (19 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 28 percent. This has remained stable throughout 2024.
Overall gambling participation is highest for males aged 35 to 64. However, removing lottery draw only players, shifts the age profile downwards, resulting in males aged 18 to 24 having the highest gambling participation rates in the past 4 weeks (47 percent).
Overall, the most popular gambling activities following lottery draws were scratchcards (12 percent), betting (10 percent) and online instant win games (7 percent).
The in-person gambling participation rate (in the past 4 weeks) was 28 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 (15 percent), buying a scratchcard (12 percent) and buying tickets for another charity lottery draw in-person.
The online gambling participation rate (in the past 4 weeks) was 37 percent, which falls to 17 percent when lottery draw only players are removed. This highlights the large proportion of online players that only gamble on lottery draws.
The most popular online gambling activities in the past 4 weeks were buying tickets for a National Lottery draw online (23 percent), buying tickets for other charity lottery draws online (13 percent) and betting on sports and racing online or via an app (9 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.
Further analysis on the reasons why people gamble can be found on our website.
Details
The statistics presented in this report comprise our official statistics on gambling participation. The data presented from the GSGB is not comparable to previous gambling survey publications due to changes in the methodology.
The next quarterly publication in this series (Year 3, wave 1, 2025) will be released on 16 October 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.
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