Fewer Pupils Gamble With Their Own Money, but Influencer Ads Reach More of Them

The Gambling Commission's 2026 youth survey finds 26% of 11 to 17 year olds gambled with their own money in the past year, while influencer advertising reached 38% of pupils who follow gambling content, up from 31%.

• The Gambling Commission published its Young People and Gambling 2026 statistics on 12 November, based on 3,867 pupils aged 11 to 17 in England, Scotland and Wales
• The Commission led on 74% of pupils it describes as never having gambled, up from 69.6% in 2025; in the report that is the share who did not gamble with their own money in the past year
• Some 26% spent their own money on gambling, mostly on arcade machines (19%) and bets with friends or family (11%); 5% did so on age-restricted products
• Of the 15% of pupils who follow gambling content online, 38% said influencers or streamers they follow advertised gambling to them, up from 31%
• Weekly exposure to gambling ads was highest on social media (55%) and streaming or video-sharing platforms (53%), as regulators elsewhere move against influencer marketing

The Commission Reports a Fall in Gambling With Pupils' Own Money

The Gambling Commission published Young People and Gambling 2026: Official statistics on 12 November. Ipsos surveyed 3,867 pupils in years 7 to 12 (S1 to S6 in Scotland) at academies, maintained and independent schools in England, Scotland and Wales, online and in class, between 12 January and 12 June.

The Commission's news release led on 74% of 11 to 17 year olds "indicating they had never gambled", a statistically significant increase, it said, from 69.6% in 2025. In the report's DSM-IV-MR-J problem gambling table, 74.0% is the "never have gambled" row, the remainder after the 26% who spent their own money on gambling in the past 12 months: 24% on non-age-restricted activities and 5% on age-restricted ones. Arcade machines such as penny pushers led at 19%, ahead of bets with friends or family (11%) and cards for money (5%).

Against 2022, own-money gambling fell from 31%, a comparison the Commission calls "indicative only" because the 2022 sample excluded year 12 and independent schools. Its table shows 31%, 26%, 27%, 30% and 26% from 2022 to 2026. On the screen, 0.9% scored as problem gambling and 2.0% as at risk; the Commission said the change from 1.2% in 2025 was not significant.

"The Commission's focus is on ensuring that children and young people are not able to spend money on age-restricted gambling products, with an appreciation of the wider context," said Ben Haden, the Commission's Director of Research and Statistics.

Advertising Recall Rose, and Influencers Reached More Followers

Some 89% of pupils recalled gambling advertising in the past year. Recall rose significantly from 2025, from 74% to 80% online and from 77% to 82% offline, and from 42% to 49% on streaming and video-sharing platforms. Weekly exposure was highest on social media (55%), streaming or video-sharing platforms (53%), TV (52%) and apps (51%); the frequency question changed in 2026, so there is no comparison.

Some 15% of pupils follow gambling companies or gambling streamers on at least one platform (16% in 2025), most often on TikTok. Among those 551 pupils, 38% said influencers, creators or streamers they follow had advertised gambling to them, a significant rise from 31%, with boys at 42% and girls at 27%.

In all, 35% had seen a family member they live with gamble, and 22% had opened loot boxes with their own money.

The "Never Gambled" Figure Is Narrower Than It Sounds

"Never gambled" describes the 74% loosely. The report puts lifetime experience of gambling at 55%, and 73% of those who have gambled said they did so with a parent, carer or guardian; the 74% means no gambling with their own money in the past year. The fall from 2025 also returns the rate to its 2023 level rather than a new low, the pattern the Commission calls "variations across intervening years".

Influencer Exposure Is the Number That Moved

The influencer figure covers under 6% of all respondents on iGT's arithmetic, but it rose significantly while overall following did not. The rules of the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and its broadcast counterpart (BCAP), in force since 1 October 2022, bar gambling ads of "strong" appeal to under-18s, and a 25% audience test governs placement. Both turn on what an ad shows and who a medium's audience is, not on a streamer a teenager chooses to follow. In September the Advertising Standards Authority banned a Midnite TikTok ad made by an affiliate, and the same day cleared casino ads on an esports site because nothing showed more than 25% of its audience was under 18.

The Data Will Not Settle the Advertising Argument

The report warns it cannot show that advertising caused gambling: 10% of pupils who saw ads said one prompted unplanned spending, but some of them reported no gambling elsewhere. In 2022 CAP and BCAP kept the 25% test, saying there was "no substantive suggestion" that exposure alone was harmful. Rising recall does not overturn that, but it hands campaigners evidence on online reach as markets from Sweden to Brazil act on youth exposure.

The participation figures are steady rather than improving. The advertising figures are moving, and they are moving online.