UKGC gambling survey The latest Gambling Survey for Great Britain has landed, giving us a fresh look at how people are gambling in 2026, with encouraging consistency for bingo.
The UK Gambling Commission found that 3% of adults had played bingo at a venue in the previous four weeks.
That is unchanged from the previous survey wave, which covered September 2025 to January 2026, when bingo also recorded 3%.
The latest survey covered 5,277 adults aged 18 and over, with fieldwork running from 19 January to 26 May 2026.
Bingo holds its ground
The 3% figure puts venue bingo alongside in-person sports and racing betting and fruit and slots, all of which also recorded 3% participation in the latest wave.
Notably, bingo has held that level between the previous wave and the latest release.
The comparison with the same period last year needs a little more care. In Wave 1 2025, bingo was not listed separately among the Gambling Commission's headline in-person activities, although the survey reported a 27% overall in-person gambling participation rate. The latest figure is therefore best treated as a current snapshot rather than evidence of a year-on-year rise or fall.
The Commission itself cautions that GSGB figures are “not directly comparable to previous gambling survey publications due to changes in the methodology.”
For bingo, though, the message is simple: people are still turning up.
Online and offline bingo remain different experiences
The latest numbers also give some useful context for the relationship between online and land-based bingo.
Overall, 39% of adults participated in some form of online gambling during the previous four weeks, compared with 29% who gambled in person. Once people who only took part in lottery draws are excluded, those figures fall to 16% online and 18% in person.
Bingo's physical presence therefore sits within a wider market where digital gambling is hugely established, but where millions of adults are still engaging with gambling away from their phones.
For bingo players, the distinction is familiar. Online bingo brings convenience, choice and the ability to play whenever it suits. The bingo hall offers the social side – a night out, familiar faces and the shared experience of playing in the same room.
The latest numbers suggest there is still room for both.
The bigger gambling picture is changing too
Beyond bingo, several figures in the new survey stood out.
Overall gambling participation rose to 49%, while it was 28% when the survey excluded people who only played lottery draws. The Commission says the overall figure has remained stable over time.
Scratchcards were the most popular activity after lottery draws at 13%, followed by betting at 10% and online instant-win games at 8%.
There is also a striking gender difference in betting: 16% of men reported betting during the previous four weeks compared with 4% of women. The Commission says participation in scratchcards and online instant-win games showed little variation between men and women.
Online gambling is not just betting
The online figures are interesting for online bingo sites because they show where the competition for players' attention actually sits.
National Lottery tickets were the most popular online gambling activity at 25%, followed by other charity lottery tickets at 15% and online instant-win games at 8%.
That puts bingo into a crowded digital market where players can move between lottery products, instant wins, betting and other gambling experiences with just a few taps.
For online bingo, the challenge is therefore not simply getting players online. It is creating an experience that gives them a reason to stay.
The fun factor stands out
One of the more interesting findings has little to do with where people gamble.
The Commission says “for the chance to win big money” and “because it’s fun” remain the most popular reasons people gave for gambling in the past 12 months.
Interestingly, adults aged 18 to 24 were the only age group where “because it’s fun” was the most common reason, rather than monetary motives.
That finding feels particularly relevant to bingo, where the social and entertainment elements have long been part of the attraction.
It also helps explain why the modern bingo experience – whether online or in a club – increasingly goes beyond simply marking numbers off a card.
Bingo's steady number
There is no dramatic movement in the latest bingo figure. And perhaps that is the story.
At 3%, venue bingo has remained at the same participation level as the previous survey wave, while still ranking among the UK's more popular in-person gambling activities.
The latest data doesn't show whether bingo participation has grown or declined over the longer term, particularly given the Gambling Commission's warnings about comparing different survey methodologies.
What it does show is that, in 2026, bingo remains firmly part of the picture – both as a traditional night out and as a game that has successfully made the jump online.
For a game that has spent decades adapting to changing technology and changing audiences and a halving of venues over the last decade, UK bingo holding its ground may be the biggest story of them all.
Ben has been an massive bingo enthusiast and fan since playing at the seaside as a kid. Dedicated to bringing you the latest and best bingo news from the UK
