UK Gambling Commission Releases Third Annual GSGB Report Showing Steady Problem Gambling Levels

The UK Gambling Commission published its third annual report from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain on 16 July 2026, and the document delivers official statistics drawn from Year 3 of the ongoing project. Data collection took place throughout 2025 and captured responses from 20,775 adults aged 18 and older, allowing analysts to track gambling participation, behaviours, attitudes and harms across three consecutive years from 2023 through 2025. The headline figure shows the problem gambling rate, defined as a PGSI score of 8 or higher, holding steady at 2.4 percent.

Survey Design and Data Collection Methods

Researchers designed the Gambling Survey for Great Britain as a continuous, nationally representative study that replaces earlier fragmented data sources. The 2025 wave maintained consistent methodology with previous years, which enables direct year-on-year comparisons while covering a broad range of gambling activities from lotteries and sports betting to casino games and online slots. Fieldwork involved both online panels and address-based sampling to reach a diverse adult population across England, Scotland and Wales.

Response quality received particular attention, with weighting applied to align the final sample with census benchmarks on age, gender, ethnicity and region. The resulting dataset provides one of the largest annual snapshots of gambling behaviour available in Great Britain, giving regulators and public health bodies a clearer picture of how participation patterns evolve over time.

Core Findings on Participation and Behaviours

Overall gambling participation remained broadly consistent across the three-year period, although certain formats showed modest shifts. Lottery draws continued to attract the largest share of respondents, while online casino products and in-play sports betting registered smaller but noticeable increases among younger adults. The report breaks down frequency of play, typical spend levels and preferred channels, revealing that most participants engage occasionally rather than intensively.

Attitudes toward gambling also appear stable. A majority of respondents expressed support for existing age restrictions and responsible gambling tools, yet views on advertising volume showed more variation. Those who had experienced some level of harm were more likely to favour stricter controls on marketing and product design, while the wider population expressed mixed opinions on further regulatory changes.

Problem Gambling Rates and Harm Indicators

The central statistic highlighted in the July 2026 release concerns the problem gambling rate. At 2.4 percent, the figure matches the level recorded in the 2024 report and shows no statistically significant movement since the survey began. Moderate-risk gambling, measured by PGSI scores between 3 and 7, also displayed little change, suggesting that the distribution of gambling-related harm has remained steady amid evolving product offerings and regulatory adjustments.

Additional harm indicators examined in the report include financial difficulties, relationship strain and mental health impacts self-reported by respondents. These measures correlate strongly with higher PGSI scores, yet the overall prevalence of each indicator has not risen markedly across the three survey waves. The data therefore provides a baseline against which future policy interventions can be evaluated.

Three-Year Trends and Comparative Insights

Because the survey now spans three full years, analysts can identify longer-term patterns that single-year snapshots miss. Participation in land-based venues has edged downward slightly while online channels have grown, although teh overall proportion of adults who gamble at least once a month has stayed within a narrow band. Attitudes toward gambling harm have become marginally more aware, with a small increase in the number of people who report knowing where to seek help if needed.

The stability in problem gambling rates occurs against a backdrop of regulatory developments that include tighter rules on online inducements and enhanced player protection measures introduced between 2023 and 2025. Observers note that the absence of a sharp rise or fall in harm metrics suggests these measures have neither dramatically reduced nor exacerbated existing issues during the measured period.

Implications for Regulators and Public Health Bodies

The Gambling Commission has stated that the 2025 dataset will feed into ongoing policy reviews and harm-prevention programmes. Public health agencies can use the granular regional breakdowns to target resources more effectively, while industry operators receive updated benchmarks against which to assess their own player-protection initiatives. The report also flags areas where further research would strengthen understanding, particularly around the relationship between specific product features and harm trajectories.

Conclusion

The third annual Gambling Survey for Great Britain report, released on 16 July 2026, supplies the most comprehensive picture yet of adult gambling behaviour across three successive years. With participation patterns holding steady and the problem gambling rate remaining at 2.4 percent, the findings offer regulators and researchers a reliable reference point for monitoring future changes. The full dataset and accompanying analysis are available on the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (Annual Report 2025): Official statistics page, providing detailed tables and methodological notes for anyone seeking deeper examination of the 2025 results.