An estimated 1.4 million adults in Great Britain have a gambling problem, according to landmark figures released days after the chancellor hinted at increasing taxes on the £11.5bn industry.
The Gambling Commission’s annual survey found that 2.7% of adults scored 8 or above on the problem gambling severity index, a widely accepted measure analysing negative consequences of betting.
In previous years, the watchdog had warned against extrapolating that percentage to the general population. However, in a decision that puts the commission on a collision course with the industry it regulates, it has scrapped this advice after analysis of the figures by a statistics expert.
That means the poll of more than 19,000 people can for the first time be used to estimate the total number dealing with a gambling problem nationally – a figure of 1.4 million, or more than the population of Birmingham.
The report also identifies higher rates of problem gambling in deprived areas and in formats such as slot machines and in-play betting on sports.
The Gambling Commission’s assessment was published on Thursday, days after the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, hinted at plans to raise taxes on the sector at the autumn budget. She told an event at the Labour conference on Monday that there was a case for bookmakers and online casinos “paying more”.
Gordon Brown has called for an increase of up to £3bn in duties paid by gambling companies to pay for the lifting of the two-child benefit cap. The former prime minister’s plan echoes calls from thinktanks including the Social Market Foundation and the Institute for Public Policy Research.
Industry sources expect taxes to rise, albeit by a smaller amount than Brown wants.
The new estimate of the scale of the problem is likely to feed into the Treasury’s thinking about the economic benefits of an industry that pays billions in taxes and employs thousands of staff. Critics say gambling creates a drag on the economy through punters losing about £11.5bn a year.
The 2.7% figure comes from the commission’s second gambling survey of Great Britain (GSGB), which is now the regulator’s chosen gold standard. It replaces a poll that produced a much lower 0.4% estimate.
skip past newsletter promotion
Get the day’s headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
The Betting & Gaming Council has repeatedly chosen to ignore the GSGB in favour of using the much lower figure from the older survey. The Guardian approached the industry lobby group for comment on the latest figures.
Andrew Rhodes, chief executive of the Gambling Commission, said: “This year’s findings deepen our understanding of 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.”
