Third Annual Gambling Survey for Great Britain Delivers Fresh Data on Participation and Behaviours

The Gambling Commission has published the third annual report from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, and this release marks the first time three years of comparable trend data sit side by side for analysis. The survey captures official statistics on participation levels, behaviours, attitudes, and problem gambling rates among adults across the country during 2025, which serves as Year 3 of the ongoing project, and researchers gathered responses from 20,775 adults to build the dataset. Conducted by the National Centre for Social Research in collaboration with the University of Glasgow, the effort supplies policymakers and industry observers with a consistent measure that tracks how gambling patterns evolve over successive years.

Key Findings on Problem Gambling Prevalence

Problem gambling prevalence, defined by a PGSI score of 8 or higher, remained steady at 2.4 percent in the latest figures, and this stability arrives after two prior annual releases that used the same methodology. Observers note that the consistency across the three-year window allows direct comparisons that were previously unavailable, while the sample size of 20,775 adults provides a robust foundation for national estimates. Researchers continue to monitor shifts in attitudes and behaviours alongside these core rates, and the data collection process incorporates questions on frequency of play, preferred formats, and perceptions of risk.

Survey Methodology and Collaboration Details

The National Centre for Social Research led fieldwork with support from University of Glasgow academics, and this partnership ensures academic rigour alongside practical delivery of large-scale surveying. Questions probe participation across land-based and online channels, gather self-reported spending patterns, and assess how respondents view gambling's role in society. Because the same core instrument runs each year, statisticians can isolate genuine changes from methodological noise, and the resulting time series now spans three full cycles that cover 2023 through 2025.

Those who've examined earlier waves point out that the survey design deliberately avoids mixing incompatible datasets, which strengthens the reliability of any observed trends. The Gambling Commission uses these outputs to inform regulatory decisions, and the latest report feeds directly into ongoing policy discussions around player protection measures. Data indicates that attitudes toward gambling remain mixed, with some segments expressing greater awareness of potential harms while others report continued engagement without apparent difficulty.

Three-Year Trend Data Now Available

With three comparable years in hand, analysts gain the ability to examine whether the 2.4 percent problem gambling rate reflects a plateau or the start of a longer pattern. The report presents participation statistics broken down by demographics and activity type, yet the headline stability in problem gambling stands out because it emerges from identical measurement approaches each time. Experts have observed that maintaining methodological consistency matters when tracking sensitive behaviours, and the current release demonstrates how repeated large-scale surveying builds a clearer picture than one-off snapshots ever could.

July 2026 finds regulators and researchers reviewing these numbers alongside other indicators such as operator returns and treatment service data, and the alignment of sources helps paint a fuller view of the gambling landscape. The survey continues to evolve in minor ways to reflect new products or platforms, yet core PGSI items stay fixed so that trend lines remain valid. Those responsible for the project emphasise transparency in reporting, and the published tables allow independent verification of the headline 2.4 percent figure.

Implications for Ongoing Monitoring

The availability of three years of data changes how future reports will be received, because each new wave can now be placed against an established baseline rather than compared only to the previous year. Participation behaviours captured in 2025 show continued engagement across multiple formats, while attitudes captured in the same instrument reveal ongoing public debate about the balance between enjoyment and risk. The Gambling Commission has made the full dataset and accompanying analysis available through its official channels, and the Gambling Survey for Great Britain Annual Report 2025 supplies the detailed tables that underpin the summary statistics.

Conclusion

The third annual release therefore supplies a milestone in British gambling statistics by delivering the first multi-year comparable series, and the steady 2.4 percent problem gambling rate sits within a broader set of participation and attitude measures collected from more than twenty thousand adults. The collaboration between the National Centre for Social Research and the University of Glasgow continues to underpin the work, while the Gambling Commission integrates the findings into its regulatory framework. As additional waves accumulate, the value of this consistent approach will grow, and observers expect subsequent reports to build directly on the foundation established through 2025.