Beyond the Headlines: What Britain’s Biggest Gambling Survey Really Shows

_{The GSGB Survey has been updated. (Image: Alan Evans/Casinos.com)}

The Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) Year 2 dataset has been published in full for independent download and analysis, opening one of the most comprehensive public windows yet into adult gambling behaviours across Great Britain. The raw data, now accessible via the UK Data Service, complements the second annual official report and marks a clear shift toward transparency and evidence‑centred scrutiny of gambling participation, risk and harm.  

What’s New: Full Dataset Freely Available

For the first time in the GSGB’s history, the Gambling Commission has made the full Year 2 raw dataset publicly available, allowing researchers, regulators, industry analysts and other stakeholders to explore detailed responses rather than relying solely on pre‑packaged summaries. The dataset underpins the annual report covering data from nearly 19,714 adults aged 18 and older, collected between January 2024 and January 2025 using a push‑to‑web methodology designed to generate robust official statistics.  

The GSGB replaces older telephone surveys with an approach that combines online and postal questionnaires, aiming for a representative cross‑section of the adult population in Great Britain. Its size, around 20,000 respondents annually, makes it one of the largest gambling behaviour studies of its kind in the world.  

Beyond Headlines: What the Data Shows

The Year 2 official statistics report found that 48 % of adults gambled in the past four weeks, but this figure drops to 28 % when those who only took part in lottery draws are excluded. Lottery‑only gamblers tend to participate infrequently and at low risk, a distinction the raw data now enables analysts to study in greater depth.  

Other key insights from GSGB Year 2 official figures include:

• Online gambling participation (38 %) outpaces in‑person participation (29 %), although much of this reflects online lottery purchases.  
• Nearly three‑quarters of people who gambled cited fun or the chance to win money as motivations in the past year.  
• Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) high‑risk scores (8+) remain statistically stable year‑on‑year at around 2.7 %, offering a benchmark for future trends.  

The full raw data release will empower independent investigation into how specific gambling products relate to engagement patterns and harm, including subgroup analyses by age, gender, income, ethnicity and health status, research not possible with high‑level summaries alone.  

Why It Matters: For Players, Policy and Industry

A Betting and Gaming Council Spokesperson said:  “The BGC remains concerned that the methodology used in this survey is different to those previously conducted into betting and gaming.
“Surveys using predominantly online self-completion consistently produce higher estimates of gambling participation and associated harms, compared to established alternative survey methods.

“The BGC and our members are committed to raising standards and we welcome any robust study that accurately gauges betting and gaming participation and problem gambling prevalence.

“Each month around 22.5 million people in Britain enjoy a bet and the overwhelming majority do so safely and responsibly.

“The most recent NHS Health Survey for England estimated that 0.7 per cent of the adult population are problem gamblers.”

Peter Woolley MD at 2 Fat Ladies Leisure Ltd said: “All of the information looks pretty consistent with the year 1 report. 

“Being from the retail sector in the industry and dealing with our players face to face on a daily basis. It’s always good to read that 72% enjoy gambling thinking it’s fun with 56% labelling it as exciting. 

“We strive to make our experience as a sociable as possible and as bingo is a softer form of gambling I’m curious to know the figures from a bingo perspective as these figures include lotteries and scratch card sales. 

_{Peter Woolley of 2 Fat Ladies Leisure ltd. (Image: Peter Woolley)}

“With the extra regulation, investment & funding I would have expected that the 2.7% problem gamblers to have reduced from the previous year. But that held the same. We will look forward to working with the commission and Bingo Association on bringing this down”. 

For players and consumer advocates, the GSGB raw dataset shifts the conversation toward actual behaviour and experience rather than simple prevalence. Analysts can now parse how often people engage with specific products, from scratchcards and betting to online casino games, and how that relates to PGSI scores and self‑reported wellbeing or harms.

For policymakers and regulators, transparent access to underlying survey responses strengthens the evidence base for proportionate regulation. It allows policy debates, such as advertising restrictions on digital platforms or targeted harm‑reduction measures, to be informed by direct links between exposure, behaviour and consequences, rather than broad headline figures.  

For the gambling industry and its leaders, the raw data presents both a richer evidence base and increased scrutiny. Operators can test assumptions about customer behaviour, risk profiles and product engagement against granular variables, but must also be prepared for independent analyses that could challenge simplistic narratives about gambling risk. 

_{Christian Gonzalez Director of FG Games Studio. (Image: Christian Gonzalez)}

Christian Gonzalez Director at FG Game Studios said: “The GSGB data shows how much fun people get from playing. 

"I hope it will assure regulators of the safe environment land based gaming provides. It’s good for employment, player safety and gives a great place for people to socialise and have fun.”

A More Rigorous Research Agenda

The GSGB’s methodology and raw data approach, developed in collaboration with the National Centre for Social Research and University of Glasgow, responds to external reviews calling for improved timeliness and reliability in gambling statistics. Because GSGB uses a push‑to‑web design, comparisons with older surveys should not be made directly, but its longitudinal structure now sets a new baseline for future research.  

By making Year 2 data available in full alongside detailed methodological documentation, the Gambling Commission acknowledges the diverse ways this evidence may be used, from academic modelling of harm trajectories to regulatory impact assessments.

Vie and download the Update here: https://doc.ukdataservice.ac.uk/doc/9507/mrdoc/pdf/9507_gsgb_year_2_derived_variables_specification.pdf