Third Annual Gambling Survey for Great Britain Delivers Comparable Trend Data Across Three Years

The Gambling Commission has released the third annual report from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, which compiles official statistics on participation, behaviours, attitudes, and harms drawn from 2025 responses collected from more than 20,000 individuals. This release establishes the first sequence of three consecutive years with comparable trend data spanning 2023 through 2025, and the National Centre for Social Research conducted the work in partnership with the University of Glasgow. Survey administrators gathered responses through structured interviews and questionnaires that captured detailed accounts of how people engage with gambling activities, including frequency of play, preferred formats, and reported effects on wellbeing. The consistent methodology across the three-year window allows direct comparisons that track shifts in key metrics without the distortions that arise when different sampling frames or question wordings are introduced between waves.

Scope of Data Collection and Collaboration Details

Over 20,000 respondents contributed to the 2025 dataset, which covers adults across England, Scotland, and Wales and includes breakdowns by demographic groups as well as geographic regions. Researchers designed the instrument to measure both positive and negative outcomes, so the resulting statistics address participation rates alongside indicators of harm such as financial strain, relationship difficulties, and mental health impacts. The collaboration between the National Centre for Social Research and the University of Glasgow brought together expertise in large-scale social surveys and statistical analysis of behavioural patterns, which strengthened the robustness of the final estimates.

Data collection occurred throughout 2025 and produced figures that the Gambling Commission has now presented as official statistics. Observers note that the scale of the sample supports reliable national-level estimates while also permitting some subgroup analysis for age bands, gender, and socioeconomic categories. The three-year run of comparable data means analysts can now examine whether observed changes represent genuine trends or simply year-to-year variation.

Stable Problem Gambling Rate and Broader Behavioural Indicators

The headline statistic from the 2025 wave shows the problem gambling rate holding steady at 2.4 percent, matching the level recorded in the previous two years. This continuity across the full 2023-2025 period supplies the first multi-year baseline that regulators and public health bodies can use to monitor progress against harm-reduction targets. The report also presents figures on overall participation, frequency of play, and attitudes toward gambling, all measured with the same instruments to preserve comparability.

Researchers asked respondents about a range of gambling formats, from lottery draws and sports betting to casino-style games and online slots, and the resulting tables allow readers to see which activities correlate most strongly with elevated harm scores. Attitudes questions probed perceptions of fairness, advertising exposure, and personal control, while harm questions covered both individual consequences and effects on family members or colleagues. Because the same questions appeared in each annual wave, patterns in these areas can now be tracked over time rather than viewed as isolated snapshots.

Publication Context and Access to Full Statistics

The Gambling Commission published the full report on its website in 2026, making the complete dataset and accompanying technical documentation available for download. Stakeholders including local authorities, treatment providers, and academic teams can now examine the microdata under appropriate access arrangements. The three-year comparability window is particularly valuable because earlier surveys used differing methodologies that prevented reliable trend analysis, so this sequence marks the beginning of a more stable evidence base for policy evaluation.

According to the official statistics page, the survey design incorporates weighting adjustments to align the achieved sample with known population totals, and quality assurance steps included cognitive testing of new questions plus ongoing monitoring of response rates. These procedures help ensure that the 2.4 percent problem gambling rate and other headline measures reflect the wider adult population rather than only those who chose to respond.

Conclusion

The release of the 2025 Gambling Survey for Great Britain annual report supplies the first three-year run of comparable data on participation, behaviours, attitudes, and harms, with the problem gambling rate recorded at 2.4 percent for each year from 2023 onward. Conducted by the National Centre for Social Research in collaboration with the University of Glasgow and published by the Gambling Commission, the statistics offer a consistent foundation for future monitoring and analysis. Readers can access the complete findings through the official statistics link provided by the Commission, where detailed tables and methodological notes accompany the main report.