Third Annual GSGB Report Establishes First Comparable Three-Year Dataset on Gambling in Great Britain

The UK Gambling Commission published the third annual report from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, delivering official statistics on participation, behaviours, attitudes, and consequences across the country for the 2023 to 2025 period, while the survey gathered responses from more than 20,000 adults and participation held steady at 47 percent of the adult population.

Survey Scope and Data Collection

Researchers designed the Gambling Survey for Great Britain to capture a broad picture of gambling activity through structured questions that cover frequency of play, preferred formats, spending patterns, and personal views on industry practices, and the latest release builds directly on the two previous annual editions to create the first set of comparable figures spanning three consecutive years. Data collection relied on a large-scale sample that drew participants from across England, Scotland, and Wales, which allowed statisticians to track shifts in behaviour without the distortions that smaller or less consistent samples can introduce, while the methodology remained consistent year after year so that changes in the numbers reflect genuine movement rather than alterations in how the questions were asked.

Participation Levels Remain Consistent

Figures reveal that 47 percent of adults in Great Britain took part in some form of gambling during the survey period, a rate that stayed essentially unchanged from the previous two years and therefore supplies the first reliable baseline against which future movements can be measured. The stability appears across both online and land-based channels, although the report separates the two categories so that analysts can see how each segment contributes to the overall total, and the consistent participation rate gives regulators and operators a clear reference point when they review licensing conditions or responsible gambling measures.

Behaviours, Attitudes, and Reported Consequences

The report presents detailed breakdowns of how people gamble, including the types of games they choose, the frequency of their sessions, and the amounts they typically stake, while it also records attitudes toward advertising, game fairness, and the availability of help services. Respondents answered questions about any negative effects they had experienced, such as financial strain or impacts on relationships, and the data shows these outcomes distributed across different demographic groups so that patterns become visible at population level. Because the same questions were fielded over three years, observers can now compare whether certain behaviours have grown more or less common and whether attitudes toward harm have shifted in measurable ways.

Importance of the Three-Year Comparable Dataset

Until this release, each annual survey stood largely on its own, which limited the ability to identify genuine trends versus one-off fluctuations, yet the addition of the 2025 data completes a continuous three-year series that meets the standards required for official statistics. Statisticians at the Commission have aligned the weighting and sampling frames across all three waves, which means differences recorded between 2023, 2024, and 2025 can be treated as real changes rather than artefacts of survey design, and this continuity supplies the foundation for longer-term monitoring of the market. The dataset therefore supports more precise evaluation of policy interventions, because any future report can be placed alongside the existing three-year record without the need to adjust for methodological breaks.

Access to Official Statistics

The full report and accompanying data tables are available through the Gambling Commission website, where users can download the complete set of official statistics along with technical notes that explain the sampling approach and confidence intervals. Researchers and policy teams have already begun to use the figures in modelling exercises that project future participation levels, and the Commission has indicated that the same survey framework will continue so that the time series grows beyond the initial three years.

Conclusion

The publication of the third annual GSGB report marks the point at which the survey moves from a series of standalone snapshots to a coherent, comparable record that covers three full years of gambling activity in Great Britain, and the steady 47 percent participation rate combined with the detailed behavioural and attitudinal data provides a solid base for ongoing analysis of the sector. With more than 20,000 responses feeding into each wave, the dataset offers the statistical power needed to detect meaningful shifts as they emerge, which in turn supports evidence-based decisions by regulators, operators, and public health bodies alike.