Gambling statistics UK: How do Brits gamble?

Gambling comes in many different forms, from betting on horse racing to entering the National Lottery. We look at the latest gambling statistics to see how Brits are spending their money and if we’re gambling responsibly. While gambling can be fun, there are some obvious (and less obvious) downsides. You could run up debt or damage your chances of borrowing money. Gambling carefully and responsibly is essential.

Quick overview

In the year to March 2022, the gross gambling yield for the UK industry as a whole was £14.1 billion.
In the year to March 2023, 44% of Brits gambled at least once.
The average person spends £141 a year, or £2.70 a week, on betting and gaming.
There are an estimated 168,149 ‘problem gamblers’ in the UK, up by 50% from 2022.
Those aged between 20-24 are the most likely to become ‘problem gamblers’.
Men are over 7 times more likely to become problem gamblers compared to women.
Over a quarter of Brits (27.6%) have taken part in the National Lottery in 2023.
UK adults spent a total of £3.3 billion on betting and gaming between April 2022 and March 2023.
Monthly online gambling participation is up by 78.4% in March 2023 compared to April 2020.
Online real event betting is 35% more popular than online slots.

How many people gamble in the UK?

In the year to March 2023, 44% of Brits aged 16 and over had gambled at least once, and a quarter (26%) of people had taken part in gambling online.

The total number is up from 43% who gambled in the year to March 2022 and from 40% in the year to March 2021. However, it’s lower than the percentage of people gambling pre-pandemic, which was 47% of adults in the year to March 2020.

There hasn’t been much change in the amount of in-person gambling participation since 2022, as it has stayed stable at 27%, but this figure is still below the pre-pandemic figure of 35%.

The number of problem gamblers in the UK rose by 50% to hit an estimated 168,149 (0.3% of those participating), up from an estimated 112,000 (0.2%) in 2022. This is still lower than the 0.6% overall problem gambling rate in 2020.

What are the most popular types of gambling?

National lottery draws are by far the most popular type of gambling in the UK, with an estimated 27.6% of the UK adult population taking part in the year to March 2023. This is closely followed by other lottery types at 13.4% and scratchcards at 7.5%.

Spread betting was the least popular type of gambling, with just 0.3% taking part. This is followed closely by virtual dog or horse races and real-life dog races, both with just a 0.4% participation rate.

Graph
Table

Type of gambling	Percentage
National Lottery draws	28
Scratchcards	8
Another lottery	13
Fruit or slot machines	3
Virtual gaming machines	1
Bingo	2

How much money is spent on gambling in the UK?

It is estimated that UK adults spent a total of £3.3 billion on betting and gaming between April 2022 and March 2023. 30% of these total receipts came from Lottery Duty, meaning that £990 million came from Lottery Duty.

As approximately 44% of UK adults participate in gambling, this means the average person spends approximately £141 a year or £2.70 a week on betting and gaming.

Online gambling statistics

In March 2023, 14 million active players were gambling online across verticals, with the biggest operators (who cover approximately 80% of the online gambling market). Compared to April 2020, which had just under 10 million active players during the month, this is up by 78.4%.

The most popular form of online gambling in March 2023 was real event betting, with over 6.5 million people participating. The least popular form of online gambling for that same month was poker, as only 230,685 people played it.

However, real event betting has decreased in popularity, as it went from having nearly 8 million players in April 2022 to just a little over 6 million players in March 2023, a 14.2% decrease. On the other hand, online slots went from having 3 million players to over 4 million players in the same period, an increase of 15.5%

Graph
Table

Month	Real event betting	Slots	Other gaming (inc casino)	Virtual betting	Poker
April 2022	7,677,460	3,664,543	2,118,616	236,914	238,022
May 2022	5,640,833	3,606,017	2,092,688	236,080	238,190
June 2022	4,565,152	3,475,249	1,981,706	212,673	233,164
July 2022	4,573,576	3,384,076	2,102,152	211,955	230,793
Aug 2022	5,666,882	3,498,502	2,201,996	212,761	226,306
Sep 2022	4,900,242	3,422,720	2,131,482	207,544	231,040
Oct 2022	5,515,230	3,566,260	2,219,210	212,368	238,593
Nov 2022	5,967,896	3,706,157	2,327,774	212,610	236,290
Dec 2022	5,870,127	3,881,858	2,558,225	234,851	238,756
Jan 2023	5,373,648	3,804,781	2,422,560	232,153	247,693
Feb 2023	5,541,981	3,773,553	2,433,117	212,364	233,445
March 2023	6,585,060	4,232,991	2,707,415	230,849	230,685

UK gambling industry revenue

In the year to March 2022, the gross gambling yield or GGY for the UK industry as a whole was £14.1 billion. This refers to the amount retained by gambling operators after the payment of winnings.

In the year to March 2023, the gross GGY for online gambling with the biggest operators was £4.9 billion. During that period, the month with the highest GGY for online gambling was March 2023 (£495 million), and the month with the lowest GGY was February 2023 (£352 million). In 1 month, there was a 40% increase in GGY for online gambling.

Slots were the most lucrative area of online gambling this year, with a total of £2.25 billion in GGY. Sports betting gave the worst returns for gambling providers, with a GGY of £7.7 million.

Graph
Table

Type of gambling	GGY
Slots	200694928
Casino	54547864
Real event betting	227707143
Virtual betting	4423009
eSports betting	630872
Poker	6101439

Problem gambling statistics in the UK

Recent estimates suggest that there are 168,149 problem gamblers in the UK. A total of 148,004 men are problem gamblers, and 20,145 women struggle as well. This means men are over 7 times more likely to be problem gamblers than women.

Over 1.3 million men and 390,656 women are considered to be at some level of risk from gambling.

Interestingly, young people aged between 20-24 are the age group most likely to struggle with a gambling problem, with 42,702 estimated to be problem gamblers and 335,859 at risk in total.

Graph
Table

Age group	Men	Women
16-19	122,774	24,673
20-24	271,534	64,325
25-29	246,836	56,710
30-34	166,829	43,404
35-39	124,265	40,671
40-44	86,528	24,861
45-49	96,082	28,912
50-54	83,864	41,214
55-59	69,373	30,142
60-64	44,970	15,760
65-69	27,176	12,221
70-74	28,334	7,763

Graph
Table

Age group	Low-risk	Moderate-risk	Problem gamblers
16-19	131,675	13,405	2,366
20-24	212,913	80,244	42,702
25-29	220,636	62,858	20,052
30-34	140,179	41,397	28,657
35-39	114,417	39,153	11,367
40-44	65,728	38,370	7,291
45-49	77,554	24,008	23,396
50-54	86,202	32,378	6,498
55-59	62,955	23,040	13,521
60-64	46,503	10,360	3,867
65-69	29,156	5,190	5,051
70-74	25,911	6,839	3,347

How much time is spent gambling?

In the year to March 2023, the average session length for online slots was 17 minutes. During this period, December 2022 had the most online slot sessions played for longer than an hour, with over 3.1 million.

Graph
Table

Month	Sessions > 1hr
April 2022	2,823,712
May 2022	2,868,293
June 2022	2,670,971
July 2022	2,831,643
Aug 2022	2,789,150
Sep 2022	2,742,699
Oct 2022	2,890,861
Nov 2022	2,962,126
Dec 2022	3,147,912
Jan 2023	2,941,056
Feb 2023	2,736,854
March 2023	3,118,913

Quick overview

In March 2022, 43% of Brits gambled at least once.
Over a quarter of Brits (27%) have taken part in the National Lottery in 2022.
As of March 2022, £1,911.8 million was raised for National Lottery projects.
On average, Brits spend £2.60 per week on gambling, totalling over £135.20 per year.
The total gross gambling yield stood at £14.1 billion in 2020, which is 1.4% less than the total in 2019.
Gambling addiction is estimated to cost the UK up to £1.27 billion per year.
The National Lottery contributed £1.6 billion to good causes in 2018/2019.
£838 million is held in online betting accounts in the UK (April- September 2020).

How many people gamble in the UK?

In March 2022, 43% of Brits gambled at least once. However, more men are gambling than women, with around 45% of men gambling in the last 4 weeks compared to 42% of women. Gambling participation reached its highest level in 2016, where 48% of all Brits said they gambled at least once.

Graph
Table

	All Respondents	Males	Females
Year to March 2015	44.80%	49.10%	40.70%
Year to March 2016	48.40%	52.60%	44.30%
Year to March 2017	44.80%	48.40%	41.40%
Year to March 2018	44.70%	48.10%	41.50%
Year to March 2019	46.30%	51.40%	41.40%
Year to March 2020	46.70%	50.40%	43.10%
Year to March 2021	40%	41.60%	38.60%
Year to March 2022	43.30%	45%	41.80%

What are we gambling on?

By far, the most popular type of gambling in the UK is the National Lottery, with almost a third of Brits (27%) taking part in it in 2022. The next most popular types of gambling are scratchcards (10%) and sports betting, with 5% of Brits taking part in 2022.

Graph
Table

Gambling activity	Year to March 2022
National Lottery draws	27.20%
Scratchcards	7.10%
Fruit or slot machines	2.50%
Virtual gaming machines in a bookmakers	0.10%
Bingo	2.10%
Football pools	1%
Horse races	3.50%
Dog racesb	0.40%
Sports betting	5.20%
Betting on other eventsbg	0.60%
Virtual dog or horse races	0.50%
Spread betting	0.30%
Online slot machine style games / instant wins	3.40%
Casino gamesc	0.80%
Poker at a pub / club	0.20%
Private betting	3.80%

How much are we spending on gambling?

On average, Brits are spending £2.40 per week on gambling. Those in the ninth income percentile spend the most on gambling at £2.90 per week, while those in the second-lowest percentile spend the least at £1.90.

Graph
Table

Income group	Weekly spend
Lowest 10%	£2.10
Second decile group	£1.90
Third decile group	£2.70
Fourth decile group	£2.60
Fifth decile group	£2.00
Sixth decile group	£2.30
Seventh decile group	£2.50
Eighth decile group	£2.40
Ninth decile group	£2.90
Highest 10%	£2.50

Gambling industry

The total gross gambling yield stood at £14.1 billion in 2020, which is 1.4% less than the total in 2019 and 2.1% less than in 2018. The betting industry can be seen as the centre of UK gambling. The betting industry has approximately 46 thousand employees (2019). This is a decrease of roughly 9 thousand across the past 9 years. Sectors such as bingo, casinos and arcades have around ten thousand employees. Online betting follows this trend with around ten thousand employees. However, the lottery only has around a thousand employees.

Online casinos made £1,937 million in total gross gambling yield from April 2020 to September 2020, making it the most popular game of choice. Non-remote betting made £2,812 million in total gross gambling yield during the same time, while remote betting made £2,121 million.

Graph
Table

Year	Gambling Gross Yield
March 2018	14.4
March 2019	14.3
March 2020	14.1

Sports betting

Almost half (45%) of men engage in online sports betting compared to 23% of women. For example, 7% of men play online poker compared to only 1% of women. In recent years, fantasy sports has increased in popularity, and following the trend, this form of online betting is more popular amongst men (4%) compared to less than 1% of women.

Gambling debt and addiction

While gambling can be a source of entertainment, it can also cause serious money problems, addiction and debt.

Sources

Gambling commission
Office for National Statistics

Quick overview

47% of Brits have gambled in some way in the last 4 weeks.
30% of Brits have taken part in the National Lottery in 2019, making it the most popular type of gambling.
On average, Brits spend £2.60 per week on gambling, totalling over £135.20 per year.
The gambling industry was worth £14.3 billion in Great Britain in 2019, down from £14.5 billion 6 months before.
The industry collectively had 98,174 employees in 2019, down from 106,000 6 months before.
Gambling addiction is estimated to cost the UK up to £1.2 billion per year.
The National Lottery contributed £1.6 billion to good causes in 2018/2019.

How many people are gambling?

47% of Brits have gambled in the last 4 weeks, which is up slightly from the year before when 46% of Brits had gambled in the space of 4 weeks. More men than women are gambling, with around half of men (51%) gambling in the last 4 weeks compared to just 4 in 10 women (41%). 20% of all Brits say they gamble at least twice per week.

How many people gamble?
Table

Year	Gambling participation in the UK	Males	Females
2015	44.8%	49.1%	40.7%
2016	48.4%	52.6%	44.3%
2017	44.8%	48.4%	41.4%
2018	45.8%	50.8%	40.9%

What are we gambling on?

By far, the most popular type of gambling in the UK is the National Lottery, with almost a third of Brits (30%) taking part in it in 2019. The next most popular types of gambling are other lotteries (13%) and scratchcards (10%). Sports betting also remains a popular gambling method in the UK, with almost 7% of Brits taking part in 2019.

What we gamble on
Table

Type of gambling	Percentage of UK adults, year to December 2019
National Lottery draws	29.62%
Another lottery	12.73%
Scratchcards	9.94%
Sports betting	6.71%
Private betting	5.63%
Fruit or slot machines	4.20%
Horse racing	4.02%
Online slot machine style games/instant wins	3.15%
Bingo	2.92%
Football pools	1.72%
Casino games	1.50%
Betting on other events	1.37%
Virtual gaming machines in a bookmakers	0.84%
Other	0.83%
Dog races	0.70%
Poker at a pub/club	0.51%
Virtual dog or horse races	0.40%
Spread betting	0.28%

How much are we spending on gambling?

On average, Brits are spending £2.60 per week on gambling. Those in the highest income percentile spend the most on gambling at £4.20 per week, while those in the lowest percentile spend the least at £1.50 per week.

Spending
Table

Income group	Weekly spend
Lowest 10%	£1.50
Second decile group	£2.00
Third decile group	£1.90
Fourth decile group	£2.70
Fifth decile group	£2.70
Sixth decile group	£2.30
Seventh decile group	£3.20
Eighth decile group	£2.70
Ninth decile group	£2.40
Highest 10%	£4.20

Gambling industry

The gambling industry in total is worth £14.3 billion and employs 98,174 people across the UK as of September 2019. This is down from £14.5 billion and 106,000 employees in March of the same year, a change driven by more gambling taking place online than on-premises.

Online casinos made £3,190 million in total gross gambling yield from October 2018 to September 2019, making it the most popular game of choice. Non-remote betting made £2,812 million in total gross gambling yield during the same time, while remote betting made £2,121 million.

As of 2019…

£14.3 billion: Total gross gambling yield of the gambling industry.
98,174: Total number of employees in the gambling industry.
7,315: Total number of betting shops.
1,633: Total number of arcades.
642: Total number of bingo premises.
155: Total number of casinos.

The number of premises to gamble on has steadily decreased over the past 8 years as online gambling has increased in popularity. The only exception is casinos, which had 149 premises in 2011, versus 155 in 2019 (+4%). The most closures were made by arcades; they have decreased by 32% (763 premises) from 2,396 to 1,633 during the past 8 years.

Number of premises 2011 vs 2019
Table

Premises	2011	2019	Increase/decrease
Arcades	2,396	1,633	-31.84%
Betting shops	9,067	7,315	-19.32%
Bingo premises	695	642	-7.63%
Casinos	149	155	4.03%

Problem gambling statistics in the UK

While gambling can be a source of entertainment, it can also cause serious money problems, addiction and debt.

0.5% of the UK’s adult population are problem gamblers.
15% of online gamblers have been gambling in the workplace in the past 4 weeks.
3.1% of gamblers have bet more than they can afford to lose.
Gambling addiction is estimated to cost the UK between £260 million and £1.2 billion per year.
7% of gamblers said they did so as a way to “earn money to get by day-to-day”.