Statistics and research release
Exploring the relationship between gambling activities and Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) scores
The Gambling Commission report on Exploring the relationship between gambling activities and Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) scores
Summary
Also published recently
This short report further explores the relationship between participation in individual gambling activities in the past 12 months and Problem Gambling Severity Index Scores (PGSI). It examines the associations between engagement in specific gambling activities and PGSI scores when broader gambling behaviours and the socio-economic and demographic profile of people engaging in each activity is considered.
Key facts
The key facts for this report are:
Certain forms of gambling are significantly associated with having a Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) score of 8 or more (representing problem gambling) after wider gambling engagement and other factors were taken into account.
These activities are: gambling on casino products, either online, at a venue or on a machine; gambling on fruit/slot games either in person or online; betting on other (non-sports) events, either in person or online; betting on sports/racing in person; gambling on non-National Lottery online instant wins and non-National Lottery scratchcards.
These results suggest that engagement in certain forms of gambling are associated with higher risk of experiencing problem gambling.
Details
More details can be found in the main report.
Notes
Some errors were identified by NatCen affecting the 2023, 2024 and 2025 GSGB publications. These errors related to the derivation of ‘gambling activity in the past 12 months’ and ‘consequences of gambling’ variables. Corrections have been applied to the data available on the archive. This report has not been updated due to the small impact of these errors on the data. Findings in this report may differ slightly if replicated using the corrected data, however, the overall patterns and conclusions remain consistent.
This publication is primarily for anyone who has an involvement or interest in the gambling industry including government, licensed operators, trade bodies, international regulators, journalists, academic researchers, financial institutions, statisticians, consumers and local authorities.