The Gambling Survey for Great Britain, run by the Gambling Commission. It's one of the world's largest dedicated gambling surveys, with around 20,000 respondents a year, and it tracks how many people gamble and how many show signs of harm.

What does a 2.4% problem gambling rate mean?

It's the share of adults scoring 8 or higher on the PGSI, a screening tool for gambling harm. In 2025 that worked out to roughly 1.3 million people, down from 2.7% the year before.

Why is the figure disputed?

The GSGB's method has been criticised for producing higher rates than other surveys. NHS surveys, for example, have found problem gambling rates below 1%, so the true figure is a matter of ongoing debate.

Britain's Problem Gambling Rate Dipped to 2.4%. The Number Is Still Contested

The Gambling Commission published its latest Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) on July 16, and the top-line number moved in the direction ministers will welcome. The problem gambling rate, measured as adults scoring 8 or higher on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), came in at 2.4% for 2025, down from 2.7% a year earlier. SBC News reported the Commission framing the figure as broadly stable, noting the first annual report had it at 2.5%.

That is the headline. As usual with this survey, the more useful story is in what the number actually measures and why serious people still argue about it.

What the survey found

The GSGB is a big piece of research. The Commission describes it as one of the largest dedicated gambling surveys anywhere, with around 20,000 respondents each year, which is what gives it the authority to make national estimates in the first place.

Alongside the problem gambling figure, participation edged down. The survey found 59% of adults had gambled in the past 12 months, a slight drop from 60% the year before. Gambling in the previous four weeks fell from 48% to 47%. Online gambling held flat at 38%. None of these are dramatic swings, and the Commission was careful not to oversell them. A 2.4% problem gambling rate translates to roughly 1.3 million adults, which is the number worth keeping in mind whenever the percentage starts to sound small.

Why the number is contested

Here is the part that does not fit in a headline. The GSGB’s methodology has been criticised, and it reports meaningfully higher problem gambling rates than some other studies. NHS surveys, for instance, have put the rate below 1%. That is a large gap, and it is not a rounding difference. It reflects genuine disagreement about how you should ask people about their gambling and how you count the answers.

Survey design matters more than it sounds. How you recruit respondents, how you word the questions, and whether people answer online or in person can all nudge the result. The Commission has defended its approach and published guidance on how its statistics should and should not be used, including cautions against treating year-to-year changes as firm trends. The industry, unsurprisingly, has pushed the other way. Racing Post reported an industry body reiterating its view that the official figures are “inflated” and arguing that policy should stay proportionate to the real level of harm.

Why the disagreement is not just academic

This is not a fight about spreadsheets for its own sake. The problem gambling rate feeds directly into policy. It shapes how tightly online play is regulated, how gambling harm is funded and how urgent reform is made to sound. If the true figure is close to 2.4%, that supports a firmer regulatory hand. If it is closer to the sub-1% that NHS surveys suggest, the case for the strictest measures looks weaker. So the argument over the number is really an argument over how much intervention is justified, which is why neither side is willing to let it go.

For anyone reading from outside the industry, the sensible takeaway is to hold the figure loosely. A 2.4% rate that fell from 2.7% is a real data point from a large, credible survey, and it is also a contested estimate that sits well above what some other research finds. Both of those things are true at once, and any coverage that gives you only one of them is telling half the story.

The bottom line

The direction is mildly encouraging and the debate is unresolved. Problem gambling in Britain, by the Commission’s own preferred measure, ticked down in 2025 while remaining the subject of a live methodological dispute. Watch how the figure gets cited in the coming months, because in gambling policy the statistic almost always arrives with an agenda attached.

If gambling is affecting you or someone you know, free, confidential support is available in Great Britain through GamCare’s National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133. This article is informational and intended for adults aged 18 and over.