The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has unveiled the second batch of data from the 2024 Gambling Survey of Great Britain (GSGB). This effort continues to employ a new survey format and methodology to capture and analyze gambling trends more effectively.
Conducted by NatCen, the research intends to assess how widespread gambling is and update the community on gambling behaviors, views, and the associated risks to adults in Great Britain.
The initiative is aimed at delivering more precise and adaptable information regarding gambling activities in the UK. It is important to note that the Wave-1 and Wave-2 data sets do not incorporate figures from the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) for UK adults. These particular statistics are provided separately in the Commission’s annual report, “Official Statistics on Gambling Participation,” which delves into gambling impacts on individuals and their families.
The Wave-2 data comes from a survey of 4,657 adults, aged 18 and over, conducted by NatCen between April and July 2024, representing a cross-section of the national population.
In line with 2023 statistics, the latest results show that 48% of adults engaged in gambling activities over the past four weeks. For men, this figure stands at 52%, decreasing to 32.4% when excluding those who only played the lottery. For women, these numbers are 43.6% and 24.7%, respectively.
Lottery participation remains highest overall in the 45–54 age group at 55.2%. When omitting lottery play, the 25–34 age group leads in gambling activity at 35.8%. Across all age brackets, women generally participate less in gambling than men.
Online gambling participation is recorded at 37.4% overall, which goes down to 17.2% when excluding lottery-only participants. Among men, 42.2% have gambled online, with the rate dropping to 22.0% when lottery participants are excluded. For women, these statistics are 33.0% and 12.7%, respectively.
The highest rates of online gambling, including lottery players, occur in the 45–54 age group at 45.5%. Excluding those who only participated in the lottery, the 18–24 and 25–34 age groups both top the list at 23.9%.
Over the last four weeks, the most common gambling activities were National Lottery draws (31%) and charity lotteries (16%). Other frequent activities included scratchcards (12%), betting (12%), and online instant win games (7%). Compared to Wave-1, participation in betting has increased by more than three percentage points.
In terms of betting, 12.4% of respondents participated, with a significantly higher rate among men (18.5%) compared to women (6.5%). Among the types of betting, sports and racing—whether online or through apps—were the favorites, with 10.3% of people participating, broken down further into 15.8% of men and 5.1% of women. Participation in online casino games was at 2.8%, with men making up 4.8% and women just 0.9%.
The Commission points out that due to changes in methodology, the GSGB data is not directly comparable to previous gambling surveys. Stakeholders are reminded that these data sets represent the current official statistics on gambling participation in Great Britain.
This information is crucial, providing key insights into gambling behaviors and trends, which aid informed decision-making for policy and industry practices.
