Third Annual Gambling Survey for Great Britain Delivers Three Years of Stable Participation Data

The UK Gambling Commission has published the third annual report from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, which compiles official statistics spanning 2023 through 2025 on adult gambling participation, behaviours, attitudes and consequences across the country. This release marks three consecutive years of consistent data collection that allows direct year-on-year comparisons while maintaining the same methodological approach each time.

Headline Participation Figures Hold Steady Across the Period

Participation rates remain consistent at 47 percent of adults reporting gambling activity in the past four weeks during 2025, while the figure drops to 27 percent when lottery-only players are excluded from the calculation. Observers note that these percentages have shown little movement across the full three-year window, which provides a clear baseline for tracking future shifts. Data indicates that the survey continues to capture both lottery and non-lottery forms of gambling, giving analysts the ability to separate these categories when examining broader trends.

Researchers have pointed out that the stability in these headline numbers comes from a sample size of approximately 20,000 respondents each year, making the Gambling Survey for Great Britain one of the largest dedicated gambling studies conducted anywhere in the world. This scale supports robust statistical analysis and reduces the margin of error when comparing results across the 2023, 2024 and 2025 waves.

Motivations for Gambling Remain Consistent Year After Year

Respondents cited several primary reasons for taking part in gambling activities, with the chance to win big money selected by 84 percent of participants, followed by fun at 69 percent, making money at 57 percent and excitement at 53 percent. These percentages reflect responses collected across the three-year period and show minimal variation between annual waves. The consistency suggests that core motivations have not undergone significant change even as external economic conditions evolved between 2023 and 2025.

Those who have examined the dataset in detail often highlight how the ranking of these reasons holds steady whether lottery play is included or filtered out. This pattern allows policymakers and industry analysts to focus on the underlying drivers rather than temporary fluctuations tied to specific events or promotions.

Problem Gambling Rates Show No Significant Movement

Problem gambling rates measured by the Problem Gambling Severity Index at the 8+ threshold stayed stable at 2.4 percent throughout the three reporting years. The figure appears in the context of the full adult population surveyed, and researchers emphasize that the same screening tool was applied uniformly each year to maintain comparability. This stability provides a reference point for evaluating any future interventions or regulatory changes that may be introduced after the current data cycle.

Survey Design Supports Long-Term Trend Analysis

The annual structure of the Gambling Survey for Great Britain enables direct comparison of identical questions across multiple years, which strengthens the reliability of any observed patterns. Because the same core questionnaire and sampling framework remain in place, differences that do appear can be attributed more confidently to actual behavioural shifts rather than changes in how the data was gathered. In July 2026 the latest wave continues this sequence, extending the dataset and further reinforcing its value for longitudinal study.

Analysts working with the figures have noted that the large annual sample supports subgroup analysis by age, region and gambling type while still producing statistically meaningful results. This capability proves especially useful when examining whether certain demographic segments show different participation or motivation profiles compared with the overall population.

Release Context and Data Accessibility

The UK Gambling Commission published the full report containing these 2025 results alongside the earlier waves, making the complete three-year series available for public review. The Gambling Survey for Great Britain: Annual report 2025 (official statistics) presents the participation, motivation and problem gambling indicators in a single document that researchers and stakeholders can download and analyse directly.

Because the survey operates on an annual cycle, future releases will extend the existing time series and allow continued monitoring of the same key metrics. This ongoing approach ensures that any deviations from the current stable patterns will be identifiable against a well-established baseline.

Conclusion

The third annual Gambling Survey for Great Britain report supplies three full years of comparable data that document stable participation levels, consistent motivations and unchanging problem gambling prevalence through 2025. With its large respondent base and repeated methodology, the survey continues to function as a primary source for understanding gambling behaviours across Great Britain, and the 2026 update extends this foundation for additional trend examination in the years ahead.