Cookies on the Gambling Commission website

The Gambling Commission website uses cookies to make the site work better for you. Some of these cookies are essential to how the site functions and others are optional. Optional cookies help us remember your settings, measure your use of the site and personalise how we communicate with you. Any data collected is anonymised and we do not set optional cookies unless you consent.

Set cookie preferences

You've accepted all cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.

Skip to main content

Statistics and research release

Statistics on participation and problem gambling for the year to Sept 2021

Findings from the quarterly telephone survey: Statistics on participation and problem gambling for the year to September 2021.

Statistics
Statistics and research hub

Collection
Consumer gambling behaviour

Series
Gambling participation and problem gambling

Published on
26 October 2021

Summary

Also published recently

Additional data sets in this series

The Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) now gathers the latest data on gambling behaviours.

This statistical release covers the quarterly gambling participation and problem gambling prevalence data for the year to September 2021.

The data being released today is based on the Gambling Commission’s quarterly telephone survey conducted by Yonder Consulting. A nationally representative sample of 4,005 adults aged 16 and over were interviewed via telephone in December 2020, March 2021, June 2021 and September 2021. Some of the data for year to September 2021 was collected during some element of lockdown or restricted activity level. Further details on the quarterly telephone survey methodology can be found on the front cover of the main publication.

Key facts

  • In year to September 2021, overall participation in any gambling activity (in the last four weeks) has remained stable at 42%.
  • In year to September 2021, the online gambling participation rate is 25% (an increase of 2 percentage points on year to September 2020), whilst in person participation is down 5 percentage points to 24%. It should be noted that much of the online increase can be explained by increasing proportions of respondents playing National Lottery draws online.
  • The overall problem gambling rate has decreased significantly (0.3%, compared to 0.6% in year to September 2020).
  • The moderate risk rate has also decreased significantly to 0.7% (year to September 2021) compared to 1.2% in year to September 2020.

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.

About the status of official statistics.

We intend to publish the next quarterly participation and prevalence statistics in February 2022.

Data and downloads

Files

Gambling participation: activities and mode of access - September 2021 XLSX 615.9 kB

Feedback

We are always keen to hear how these statistics are used and would welcome your views on this publication.

Give us feedback about these statistics.

Is this page useful?
Back to top