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There is no single, directly comparable rate for “gambling addiction.” The World Health Organization estimated that 1.2% of adults worldwide had gambling disorder in 2024, while national surveys report different figures for screened risk, possible disorder, or gambling-related harm. Those measures describe different things, so they should not be read as competing estimates of the same population.
For personal finances, the broader picture matters too: gambling can harm household budgets and relationships even when a person does not meet a clinical definition of disorder.
What do gambling addiction statistics measure?
“Gambling addiction” is common everyday wording, but official sources use several distinct measures: clinical gambling disorder, screening categories such as problem gambling or elevated risk, and the wider harms associated with gambling. A screening result is not a clinical diagnosis, and a harm estimate may include people who do not meet a disorder threshold.
The World Health Organization describes gambling disorder alongside substance-use disorders in DSM-5 and ICD-11. Its summary of ICD-11 features includes impaired control over gambling; gambling taking increasing priority over other activities and interests; and continuing despite negative consequences. Harm can also occur below a clinical threshold—for example, when gambling spending displaces money needed for household essentials.
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When comparing figures, check the geography, age range, data-collection year, survey instrument, denominator, and whether the statistic measures disorder, risk, or harm.
How many people have gambling disorder worldwide?
Global estimate of gambling disorder
The World Health Organization’s 2024 fact sheet estimates that 1.2% of the world’s adult population has gambling disorder. WHO notes that standardized global estimation remains limited, so this is an estimate rather than a precise census of every country.
Broader estimates of gambling-related harm
WHO also estimates that some level of harm from gambling affects 5.5% of women and 11.9% of men globally. These figures describe a broader category of harm; they are not alternative estimates of the 1.2% adult gambling-disorder rate.
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What do Great Britain’s latest gambling statistics show?
The Gambling Commission’s 2026 annual report on the Gambling Survey for Great Britain covers fieldwork conducted from January 2025 to January 2026. Its PGSI figures are survey screening categories, not confirmed clinical diagnoses.
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The Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) has nine items rated on a four-point scale. In the 2025 survey, 2.4% of participants scored 8 or more; 3.5% scored 3–7; and 7.8% scored 1–2. These are separate categories and should not be collapsed into a single “addicted” rate.
The Commission warns that results from this survey are not comparable with earlier survey publications because the methodology changed. The report’s figures should therefore be understood in the context of this survey and its collection period.
Reported financial and other consequences
Among people who had gambled in the previous 12 months, 2.7% reported at least one severe consequence. That denominator is past-year gamblers, not all adults. Within the same past-year gambler group, 1.7% reported relationship breakdown due to their own gambling.
Also among past-year gamblers, reducing spending on everyday items was reported by 6.4%, and lying to family by 5.9%; these potential adverse consequences were reported as occurring at least occasionally. The everyday-spending result is particularly relevant to household finances: gambling harm may show up as money being diverted from routine needs, not only as large debts.
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England and effects on other people
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ 2024 assessment of England’s treatment system summarizes estimates that 0.5% of adults in England experience problem gambling and 3.8% are at elevated risk. These are different categories, not a single combined diagnosis rate. The assessment also estimates that 7% of the British population are negatively affected by someone else’s gambling, illustrating that financial and relationship impacts can reach beyond the person who gambles.
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Spain: adults aged 15–64
Spain’s 2025 report on behavioral addictions and other addictive disorders gives 2024 survey estimates for people aged 15–64: 1.0% had possible problematic gambling and 0.4% possible gambling disorder, for 1.4% in the two possible categories combined. The adult results use Spain’s DSM-5 scale; the report defines possible problematic gambling as a score of 1–3 and possible disorder as 4 or higher. These are “possible” screening classifications, not directly comparable with WHO’s global estimate or Great Britain’s PGSI results.
Spain: students aged 14–18
For Spanish students aged 14–18, the same 2025 report says 4% showed possible problematic gambling in 2023. This estimate uses the two-question Lie/Bet screen, not the adult survey scale, and refers to a different age group and year.
How gambling harm can affect household finances
WHO identifies financial stress, relationship breakdown, family violence, mental illness, and suicide risk among possible gambling-related harms. It also notes that gambling can threaten household spending on food, housing, healthcare, and education. These are possible outcomes, not inevitable experiences for everyone who gambles.
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For a personal-finance view, the warning sign is not limited to a clinical label. If gambling spending is displacing bills or essentials, creating secrecy or conflict, or prompting borrowing to cover ordinary costs, the consequences deserve attention even if no survey category or diagnosis applies.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What do treatment statistics show—and what do they not show?
Help-seeking and treatment access
WHO estimates that 0.14% of the population sought formal or informal help for current gambling problems, indicating low treatment uptake. In its summary of available approaches, WHO says long-term cognitive behavioural therapy and motivational interviewing currently have the strongest evidence. This is a summary of evidence, not an individualized treatment recommendation.
In England, the 2024 government assessment describes treatment across NHS clinical settings and third-sector community and residential services. Most support takes place online or by phone, with face-to-face options also available. Service availability and access vary by location.
Outcomes recorded by services in 2021–2022
The England assessment counted 7,072 treatment episodes across Great Britain in 2021–2022, including 6,467 episodes for English residents. Among episodes with a recorded exit reason, 92% of those that completed scheduled treatment showed an improved PGSI score, compared with 62% of episodes ending in an unscheduled or unplanned exit.
These are outcomes for service episodes, not a controlled estimate of treatment efficacy. They do not establish that treatment alone caused the difference, and an episode is not necessarily equivalent to one unique person.
Quick Recap
Sources and dates
- World Health Organization, “Gambling,” fact sheet dated 2 December 2024.
- Gambling Commission, Gambling Survey for Great Britain (Annual Report 2025): Official statistics; fieldwork from January 2025 to January 2026, published in 2026.
- Department of Health and Social Care / Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Gambling treatment: assessing the current system in England, published 7 March 2024.
- Spanish Observatory on Drugs and Addictions, Report on behavioral addictions and other addictive disorders 2024: Executive Summary, published in 2025; adult survey estimates refer to 2024 and student estimates to 2023.
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