British Gambling Participation: What the 2024 Survey Shows

What operator data adds

The Commission’s operator-data release for January–March 2025 reported a 7% year-on-year rise in online gross gambling yield to £1.45 billion. Slots revenue rose 11%. Average monthly active accounts increased by 2%.

This dataset covered the largest online operators, not the entire market. Accounts are not unique people, and the Commission warns against direct comparison with its separate industry-statistics dataset, partly because the operator series may include free bets and bonuses.

The results show growth within the reporting operators. They do not demonstrate that a fall in survey participation caused, or was caused by, a shift towards online casinos.

A new survey baseline

The GSGB was introduced to provide regular information on participation and gambling experiences. Its first statistics were released in February 2024. It uses a push-to-web design with a paper-completion option, rather than simply continuing the methods used by earlier health and telephone surveys.

The Office for Statistics Regulation’s May 2025 review recognised the survey’s breadth and frequency, while recommending clearer communication of limitations and stronger quality-assurance information.

What this tells us about the black market

The GSGB participation headline does not measure legal-market share. Nor can general VPN use be treated as evidence that someone gambles with an unlicensed operator: VPNs have many other uses.

A separate Frontier Economics study commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council estimated £2.7 billion in annual unregulated online stakes, around 2.1% of online stakes, in its 2024 analysis. That was a modelled, industry-commissioned estimate using survey and customer data. Stakes are not operator revenue or player losses.

Any assessment of channelisation needs to identify licensing status and define the market denominator, rather than infer illegal activity from participation or technology use alone.

Why methodology matters

The way respondents are selected and asked questions can affect estimates. Self-completion may make disclosure of sensitive experiences easier; a gambling-focused invitation may also attract a different mix of respondents.

At the time of this article’s original publication, those mechanisms remained under investigation. In its May 2025 statement, the OSR called for clearer communication about the risk of overestimation. It did not conclude that the GSGB was unfit for publication.

It is therefore too strong to describe the new estimates simply as more accurate, or to explain every difference from earlier surveys as more honest reporting.

How the findings fit into reform

The government’s gambling white paper was published on 27 April 2023, before the first GSGB statistics. The survey contributes to the evidence base, but it did not originate the white paper’s programme.

Reforms also have different implementation dates. Light-touch financial vulnerability checks moved to a £150 net-deposit threshold over a rolling 30 days on 28 February 2025. These public-record checks should not be conflated with the separate financial risk-assessment pilot. Financial-limit prompts before a first deposit were scheduled for 31 October 2025.

Lessons for European comparisons

Before comparing British findings with another country, readers should check age coverage, reference periods, products, survey mode and screening instruments. The GSGB covers Great Britain, not the whole United Kingdom.

Comparable methods can support cross-border learning. Different methods should be explained rather than presented as an international ranking.

What to watch next

Subsequent waves will help show whether the fall persists, reverses or reflects seasonal variation. Operator data can add information about revenue and activity, while methodological research can clarify how survey design affects the results.

For businesses, the practical task is to distinguish changes in customer numbers from changes in frequency or spending. For policymakers, participation, harm and channelisation are separate outcomes that need separate evidence.

Summary

The May 2025 release reported a fall in past-four-week gambling participation between two GSGB waves. Large-operator data separately showed rising online revenue. Both findings matter, but neither justifies an all-time record claim or a causal story about players moving online.

The value of these statistics lies in reading their definitions and limitations as carefully as their headline percentages.