Young people are over six times more likely to experience “severe” adverse consequences from their own gambling behaviour than older adults, according to the second annual edition of the Gambling ommission’s Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB).
Published on Thursday, the survey assessed at players’ behaviour during 2024. Findings were based on the responses of 19,714 people from all areas of Great Britain.
Of those aged 18 to 34, some 5.3% noted a “severe consequence” as a result of gambling in the past 12 months, compared to 0.8% of those aged 55 and over.
Again, the Gambling Commission’s GSGB survey used the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) to measure both behavioural symptoms of gambling disorder and certain adverse consequences from gambling.
Of all players, 8.8% had a PGSI score of one to two, at the lower end of the spectrum. Some 3.1% scored between three and seven, while 2.7% had a score of eight or more, indicating a problem or being at risk of harm. The commission noted that the latter percentage was in line with the previous year.
Also similar to year one were the severe consequences of gambling. The most reported issue was a relationship breakdown, with 1.6% of respondents flagging this.
Male participants who had gambled in the past 12 months were more likely to experience at least one severe consequence due to their own betting habits than female gamblers. The contrast between men and women was 3.5% against 1.7%.
The Gambling Commission’s GSGB also raised concerns of suicide ideation or attempts, with participants asked if they had thought about taking their own life or had attempted to do so during the past 12 months. Of the 12.2% that said yes, 5.2% said this was in some way related to gambling.
Almost half of surveyed adults gambled in last month
Overall, 48% of adults aged over 18 gambled in the last four weeks, although this decreased to 28% when excluding those who only purchased lottery tickets. This, the commission said, was in line with the first edition of the survey, published last year.
Participants were more likely to gamble online (38%) than in person (29%). However, lottery again played a major factor as, after excluding lottery ticket purchase, online play rate was 16%. This compared to 18% gambling at a physical location.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the National Lottery was the most popular form of gambling, with 31% taking part. Buying tickets for other charity lotteries was next on 16%, followed by scratchcards with 13%.
It was also noted that men were more likely to have gambled in the past four weeks than women. Some 51% of men gambled in the reporting period, compared to 44% of women, which was in line with the 2023 findings.
As to how people felt about gambling, of those who gambled in the past 12 months, 42% said they had a positive experience. This was compared to 21% who rated it negatively.
Some 85% of players said the chance of winning large sums of money was the primary reason that they gambled. Players also listed gambling being fun as another core reason, with this coming in second on 72%.
Number of gamblers accessing help remains low
Other key points from the Gambling Commission’s GSGB included access to help. Just 3.4% of those who gambled in the past 12 months had sought support because of their own gambling.
The most popular source of help was gambling support services at 1.2%, while 1.7% said they accessed mental health services and food banks or welfare organisations.
It was also noted that 3.3% of people reported that someone close to them who gambled had sought some form of support.
“The GSGB is a key building block of the evidence base which helps government, industry and other partners understand both gambling behaviour and potential consequences from gambling,” Gambling Commission Chief Executive Andrew Rhodes said of the statistics.
“This year’s findings deepen our understanding of the consequences from gambling and provide crucial insight into risk profiles among those who gamble most frequently. We strongly encourage operators to use this evidence to consider the risks within their own customer bases.
“Data and research, such as GSGB, is essential to help us identify where our regulatory focus should be and informs our ongoing work to implement player protection recommendations from the Gambling Act review white paper.”
Of those aged 18 to 34, some 5.3% of participants experienced severe consequences from gambling in the past 12 months.