UKGC Report: 49% of 11–17-Year-Olds Encountered Gambling in Past Year
Expertise: US Gaming, European Gaming Industry, iGaming
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The 2025 edition of the Gambling Commission’s Young People and Gambling report, based on responses from 3,666 pupils in England, Scotland and Wales, found that 49% of 11-17-year-olds had experienced gambling during the past year. Almost a third (30%) said they had spent their own money on gambling in that period.
While headline figures show an increase in overall exposure compared with the previous year, the commission emphasised that much of the rise is concentrated in non-regulated formats. The most commonly reported activities were penny-pusher or claw-grab arcade machines (21%), informal bets with friends or family (14%), and card games played for money at social gatherings (5%). The report recorded 1.2% of respondents as scoring above the threshold on the youth-adapted problem gambling screen – broadly consistent with last year’s 1.5% and described by the regulator as statistically stable.
RELATED TOPICS: Regulation
