Gambling Commission Issues Third Annual GSGB Trends Report Covering 2023 to 2025

The Gambling Commission released its third annual report from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain in mid-2026, and this document delivers direct trend comparisons between the 2023 and 2025 survey waves on participation levels, problem gambling severity scores, and help-seeking patterns. Observers note that the data covers responses from thousands of adults across England, Scotland, and Wales, with the latest wave capturing behaviors through late 2025. Participation rates held nearly steady across the two periods. Figures show 48 percent of respondents reported gambling in the past four weeks during the 2023 survey, while the 2025 wave recorded 47 percent, a difference small enough to fall within normal sampling variation. Researchers tracked several other metrics including frequency of play, preferred channels, and spend patterns, yet most areas displayed limited movement between the two years.

Key Participation Metrics Stay Consistent

Data from the report indicates that overall engagement with gambling activities changed little over the two-year span. In-person betting at licensed premises, online casino games, and sports wagering each maintained similar shares of the total participant pool. The stability appears across both remote and land-based categories, although certain age groups showed minor adjustments in channel preference that did not alter the national picture.

Problem gambling severity measurements also produced comparable distributions in 2023 and 2025. teh survey employs standardized screening tools to categorize respondents into low-risk, moderate-risk, and problem gambling groups. Percentages within each category remained close between the two waves, with no statistically significant shifts reported for the adult population as a whole.

Help-Seeking Behaviors Reveal Demographic Variations

While broad participation and severity indicators stayed level, the report highlights differences in help-seeking actions when examined by demographic breakdowns. Younger adults and certain ethnic groups displayed varying rates of accessing support services or self-exclusion tools compared with the 2023 baseline. These variations emerged most clearly in the 2025 data set and point to areas where outreach strategies may warrant closer examination by service providers.

The survey captured whether respondents had contacted any form of help in the previous year, including national helplines, online resources, or treatment centers. Overall numbers for help-seeking stayed consistent at the population level, yet the demographic splits showed clearer movement. For example, women in specific age brackets reported increased use of digital support tools between the two survey periods.

Survey Methodology and Scope

The Gambling Survey for Great Britain uses a large-scale, probability-based sample designed to represent the adult population accurately. Fieldwork for each wave occurs over several months, with questions covering recent gambling activity, attitudes toward risk, and any steps taken to manage or reduce harm. The 2025 wave built directly on the 2023 instrument so that trend analysis could proceed without major questionnaire changes.

Commission analysts weighted results to account for regional population differences and non-response patterns. This approach allows direct comparison of key indicators across years while maintaining statistical reliability. The full data tables and technical documentation sit alongside the main report on the official site.

Context Within Broader Regulatory Monitoring

Regulators rely on the GSGB series to track long-term patterns in a sector that continues to evolve with new products and technologies. The current trends report forms one part of ongoing evidence collection that also includes industry returns, complaints data, and targeted research projects. Because the 2023-to-2025 comparison shows broad stability in most headline metrics, attention now turns to the demographic nuances that the survey has surfaced.

Stakeholders across government, treatment providers, and operator compliance teams receive the findings as part of routine updates. The report itself does not prescribe policy changes; instead it supplies the factual baseline that other organizations can reference when reviewing their own programs.

Conclusion

The third annual GSGB trends report establishes that participation in gambling activities remained essentially unchanged between 2023 and 2025, while problem gambling severity distributions showed similar consistency across the adult population. Differences in help-seeking behaviors surfaced when results were broken down by age, gender, and ethnicity, offering targeted insights for those delivering support services. The Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB): Trends report 2023 to 2025 supplies the detailed tables and methodology notes that allow further analysis of these patterns. Additional waves of the survey will continue to build the time series and refine understanding of how behaviors shift over longer periods.