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Gambling disorder statistics worldwide

TherapyRoute

TherapyRoute

Clinical Editorial

Cape Town, South Africa

Reviewed by TherapyRoute
Mental HealthAddiction
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❝How many adults gamble and how many have gambling problems worldwide and in countries on every continent, the harms gambling causes to health, money and families, the risks of online gambling, and how few people with gambling problems seek help. Every figure says who was counted and how.❞

Updated October 2026

In this Article

Most people who gamble do so without serious harm, but for some it becomes hard to stop, and the losses spread to money, relationships, work and mental health. A worldwide review in The Lancet Public Health estimates how many adults experience problematic gambling 1. The figures below show how many people gamble and how many have problems with it, from that review and from national surveys and studies.

Problem gambling (also called problematic gambling) means gambling that causes harm to the person or the people close to them; gambling disorder is the clinical diagnosis at the more serious end. It is a recognised mental health condition, and it responds to treatment. Where a figure says pooled, it comes from a meta-analysis: a study that combines the results of many studies into one figure. Prevalence studies count how many people in a group have a condition.

Most people with gambling problems do not seek help, often because of shame or because they do not see the problem as something a doctor or therapist could help with. Each figure names the people it counts and how.

If gambling is causing you or someone close to you distress, support is available. Our list of helplines and crisis lines worldwide includes services in many countries.

Key figures

  • Worldwide, an estimated 1.4% of adults experience problematic gambling, according to a review of representative surveys published in The Lancet Public Health in 2024. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2024) 1
  • Among adults with problem gambling, only about 20.6% have sought help, in a review of population surveys, mostly from Australasia and North America, published in Addiction in 2022. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2022) 2
  • Across the whole adult population, an estimated 0.2% had sought help for problem gambling, pooled across surveys with different time frames, in a review in Addiction published in 2022. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2022) 2
  • In Australia, 8.4% of all adults reported at least one harm from their own gambling in the previous twelve months, in a national survey run in 2019. The survey was the Second National Study of Interactive Gambling, by telephone. (survey, past 12 months, 2019 data) 3

Getting help

If something on this page reflects what you are going through, you do not have to manage it alone. Our guide to finding the right therapist explains how to choose someone qualified, and the TherapyRoute directory lists therapists in many countries.

If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, our list of helplines and crisis lines worldwide gives free services by country. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.

Sometimes you just need someone qualified to talk to. Find a counsellor near you — independent, professional, and ready to listen.

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Gambling worldwide

A review of national surveys from many countries estimates how many adults gamble and how many gamble at a level that carries risk.

  • Worldwide, an estimated 46.2% of adults gambled in the past year, according to a review of representative surveys published in The Lancet Public Health in 2024. (pooled from prevalence studies, past 12 months, published 2024) 1
  • Worldwide, an estimated 8.7% of adults gamble at some level of risk, according to a review of representative surveys published in The Lancet Public Health in 2024. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2024) 1
  • Among adults with gambling disorder, about 82.2% also had another mental health condition, in the population studies that measured it, pooled in a review in European Psychiatry published in 2025. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2025) 4

Who seeks help

Only a small share of people with gambling problems seek help, and many who could benefit never do. Recognising gambling disorder is not the same as seeing it as something treatment can help, as the Singapore figures below show.

CountryFindingStudy typeYearSource
WorldwidePooling studies mostly from Australasia and North America, a 2022 review estimated that 0.1% of the general population were currently seeking help for problem gambling; most studies asked about the past twelve months.Pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in timepublished 20222
WorldwideAn estimated 0.5% of the general population has ever sought help for problem gambling, in a review published in 2022.Pooled from prevalence studies, lifetime (ever)published 20222
Great BritainIn Great Britain, 3.4% of adults who gambled in the past year had sought support because of their own gambling, in the official survey run in 2025-2026.Survey, past 12 months2025-20265
Great BritainIn Great Britain, 1.7% of adults aged eighteen and over who had gambled in the past year had sought support from mental health services because of their own gambling (2025-2026 survey).Survey, past 12 months2025-20265
FinlandIn Finland, only 0.018% of the population had a formal gambling disorder diagnosis from a doctor in 2020, far fewer than the people with gambling problems in surveys.Administrative records, past 12 months20206
FinlandIn Finland, 86% of adults aged twenty and over with problem gambling had used health care for any reason in the past year, in a national survey run in 2022-2023.Survey, past 12 months2022-20236
SingaporeIn Singapore, 75.6% of residents aged eighteen to sixty-five recognised gambling disorder when shown a description of someone with it, in a national survey run over 2022-2024.Survey, at one point in time2022-20247
SingaporeIn Singapore, only 20.9% of residents aged eighteen to sixty-five would recommend medical help to someone with gambling disorder, in a survey run in 2022-2024. Family and friends were the most common suggestion.Survey, at one point in time2022-20247

Online gambling

People who play online casino and slot games have higher rates of problem gambling than people who take part in most other forms, and online gambling is common.

CountryFindingStudy typeYearSource
WorldwideAmong adults who gamble on online casino or slot games, an estimated 15.8% experience problematic gambling, the highest rate of any form of gambling, in a review published in 2024.Pooled from prevalence studies, past 12 monthspublished 20241
Great BritainIn Great Britain, 38% of adults gambled online in the past four weeks, counting online lottery draws, in the official survey run in 2025-2026.Survey2025-20265
SpainIn Spain, 18.4% of people aged fifteen to sixty-four who gambled online showed possible problem gambling in 2024, far above the share among people who gambled in person.Survey, past 12 months20248
IsraelIn Israel, 8.6% of adults who had gambled in the past year took part in illegal online gambling, in a nationally representative survey run in 2022.Survey, past 12 months20229

Harms to health, money and families

Gambling harms often reach beyond the person who gambles, to partners, children and friends. Gambling disorder often comes with depression, anxiety or substance use, and suicide risk is higher, which is why support matters. If you are thinking about suicide, see our helplines and crisis lines worldwide.

  • In Great Britain, 2.7% of adults who gambled in the past year had experienced at least one severe consequence, such as a relationship breakdown, in the Gambling Commission's official survey run in 2025-2026. (survey, past 12 months, 2025-2026 data) 5
  • In Great Britain, 43.2% of adults said someone close to them gambled, in the Gambling Commission's official survey run in 2025-2026. (survey, at one point in time, 2025-2026 data) 5
  • In Japan, an estimated 11.4% of people who gambled in 2019 experienced financial harm from gambling. The figure comes from an online survey of people aged twenty and over, weighted to national data, published in BMC Public Health. (modelled, past 12 months, 2019 data) 10
  • In Norway, national registry data showed that patients aged twenty to eighty-nine treated for gambling disorder in specialist health services had a suicide risk 5.12 times that of the general population over 2008-2021. The authors advise routine suicide screening for these patients. (registered deaths, 2008-2021 data) 11

National surveys

National surveys, and a few city or school surveys marked as such, use different screening tools and thresholds, so their figures are not directly comparable. Where a figure compares groups of people, it describes a difference in risk; it does not say what causes it. Each figure names its tool or measure where the source gives it. The tool used most often here is the PGSI, the Problem Gambling Severity Index, a short questionnaire about gambling and its effects over the past year; higher scores mean more serious problems. A cut-off is the score on a questionnaire at which a person counts as likely to have a condition; it is not a diagnosis. A probability sample chooses people at random so the results stand for the population.

CountryFindingStudy typeYearSource
AustraliaIn Australia, the PGSI placed 1.2% of adults in the problem gambling group in a national survey run in 2019.Survey, past 12 months20193
BrazilIn Brazil, 6.6% of people aged fourteen and over showed some level of gambling risk on the PGSI, in a national survey run in 2022-2023.Survey, past 12 months2022-202312
BrazilIn Brazil, 2.8% of people aged fourteen and over were at moderate or high risk of gambling problems, in a national survey run in 2022-2023.Survey, past 12 months2022-202312
BrazilIn Brazil, 17.6% of people aged fourteen and over gambled in the past year, in a national survey run in 2022-2023.Survey, past 12 months2022-202312
CanadaIn Canada in 2018, 1.6% of people who gambled in the past year were at moderate to severe risk of gambling problems. This counts people aged fifteen and over in the ten provinces.Survey, past 12 months201813
CanadaIn Canada in 2018, 4.5% of Indigenous people aged fifteen and over who gambled were at moderate to severe risk of gambling problems. This counts people living off reserve in the provinces. Statistics Canada flags this estimate for use with caution.Survey, past 12 months201813
CanadaIn Canada in 2018, 2.7% of people in the lowest income households who gambled were at moderate to severe risk of gambling problems. This counts people aged fifteen and over in the ten provinces. Statistics Canada flags this estimate for use with caution.Survey, past 12 months201813
ChileIn Santiago, Chile, 2.4% of adults had problematic gambling in the past year, in a representative city sample.Survey, past 12 monthsnot stated (published 2024)14
FinlandIn Finland, moderate-risk and problem gambling (a PGSI score of three or more) stood at 4.2% in 2023, according to a national report described in a published study.Survey, past 12 months20236
IsraelIn Israel, 6.3% of adults had moderate-risk or problem gambling in a nationally representative survey run in 2022.Survey, past 12 months20229
JapanIn Japan in 2020, probable gambling disorder in the past year stood at 2.2%, according to a Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center report described in a published study. Probable here means a score of five or more on the South Oaks Gambling Screen questionnaire.Survey, past 12 months202015
New ZealandIn New Zealand, 3.7% of Māori had problem or moderate-risk gambling in 2020, in the Health and Lifestyles Survey as reported in a published study.Survey202016
New ZealandIn New Zealand, a national survey cited in a published study found that 3.0% of Pacific people had problem or moderate-risk gambling in 2020.Survey202016
New ZealandIn New Zealand, a national survey cited in a published study found that 1.4% of European and other people had problem or moderate-risk gambling in 2020.Survey202016
South AfricaIn South Africa, 31% of people who had gambled in the previous twelve months scored in the problem gambling range on the PGSI. This comes from a national survey for the National Gambling Board in 2023, run mostly online with a probability sample designed to represent the population.Survey of people who gambled, past 12 months202317
South AfricaIn South Africa, 65.7% of people who answered a national survey for the National Gambling Board had gambled in the previous twelve months. The survey ran in 2023, mostly online, with a probability sample, people chosen at random so the results stand for the population.Survey, past 12 months202317
South KoreaIn South Korea, 0.8% of adults had pathological gambling, the older name for gambling disorder, at some point in their lives, in a large population-based psychiatric survey run in 2006-2007.Survey, lifetime (ever)2006-20074
SpainIn Spain, 1.4% of people aged fifteen to sixty-four showed possible problem gambling on a scale based on DSM-5, the clinicians' diagnostic manual, in a national survey in 2024.Survey20248
SwedenIn Sweden, 4.3% of people aged sixteen to eighty-four had some degree of gambling problems, a PGSI score of one or more, in the national Swelogs survey of 2021.Survey, past 12 months202118
SwedenIn Sweden, 1.3% of people aged sixteen to eighty-four were at raised risk of or had gambling problems (a PGSI score of three or more) in the national Swelogs survey of 2021.Survey, past 12 months202118
SwedenIn Sweden, 56% of people aged sixteen to eighty-four had gambled for money in the previous twelve months, according to the national Swelogs survey of 2021.Survey, past 12 months202118
SwedenIn Sweden in 2021, 2.3% of people aged sixteen to eighty-four who had gambled in the past year were at raised risk of or had gambling problems. That means a PGSI score of three or more.Survey, past 12 months202118
SwedenIn Sweden in 2021, 1.3% of women aged sixteen to eighty-four who had gambled in the past year were at raised risk of or had gambling problems. That means a PGSI score of three or more.Survey, past 12 months202118
SwedenIn Sweden in 2021, 3.0% of men aged sixteen to eighty-four who had gambled in the past year were at raised risk of or had gambling problems. That means a PGSI score of three or more.Survey, past 12 months202118
ThailandIn Thailand, 0.9% of adults had pathological gambling at some point in their lives, in a national mental health survey run in 2013.Survey, lifetime (ever)20134
UgandaAmong secondary school students in Mbarara, Uganda, 17.7% met the study threshold for problem gambling, in a school survey.Surveynot stated (published 2023)19
Great BritainIn Great Britain, 2.4% of adults aged eighteen and over scored eight or more on the PGSI, the highest-risk range of the scale, in the official gambling survey run in 2025-2026.Survey2025-20265
Great BritainIn Great Britain, 3.5% of adults aged eighteen and over scored three to seven on the PGSI in the official gambling survey run in 2025-2026.Survey2025-20265
United StatesIn the United States, 0.4% of adults had pathological gambling at some point in their lives, in a national survey run in 2001-2002.Survey, lifetime (ever)2001-200220
United StatesIn the United States, 2.3% of adults had at least one symptom of problem gambling at some point in their lives, in a national household survey run in 2001-2003.Survey, lifetime (ever)2001-200320

How to read these figures

Countries use different screening tools and thresholds, so national figures are not directly comparable. The tools include the PGSI (Problem Gambling Severity Index) and SOGS (South Oaks Gambling Screen).

Some figures count problem gambling in the past year; others count it at any time in life. For the same population and measure, a lifetime figure is higher than a past-year one.

Several national figures here come from papers that report another survey's results; each figure names its own source. A survey weighted to national data adjusts its results so the sample matches the population's make-up.

Surveys may under-count gambling problems because of stigma, and because people with serious problems are less likely to take part.

Treatment for gambling disorder can work. Cognitive behavioural therapy, a talking therapy that works on the thoughts and habits that keep gambling going, can help. Support groups, financial counselling and tools that block or limit gambling can also help, and families can get support in their own right.

A psychologist or counsellor who works with addictions can help you understand what keeps the gambling going and how to change it. Our guide on how to find the right therapist explains what to look for. If you are in distress right now, see our helplines and crisis lines worldwide.

Cite this page: TherapyRoute. Gambling disorder statistics worldwide. https://www.therapyroute.com/article/gambling-disorder-statistics-worldwide-by-therapyroute. Last updated 25 October 2026.

References
  1. [1] The prevalence of gambling and problematic gambling: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Public Health (Tran et al.), 2024 europepmc.org.
  2. [2] Global prevalence of help-seeking for problem gambling: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Addiction (Bijker et al.), 2022 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  3. [3] Harm-to-self from gambling: A national study of Australian adults. Journal of Behavioral Addictions (Tulloch et al.), 2024 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  4. [4] Psychiatric morbidity and gambling disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based surveys. European Psychiatry (Galeazzi et al.), 2025 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  5. [5] Gambling Survey for Great Britain (Annual Report 2025): Official statistics. Gambling Commission (Ridout et al.), 16 July 2026 gamblingcommission.gov.uk.
  6. [6] Gambling Severity and the Use of General Health Care and Social Services: A Nationwide Population Survey of Service Use and Associated Factors. European Addiction Research (Grundström et al.), 2026 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  7. [7] Recognition and Stigma of Gambling Disorder in Singapore. Journal of Gambling Studies (Tan et al.), 2026 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  8. [8] Informe sobre adicciones comportamentales y otros trastornos adictivos 2025: Resumen ejecutivo. Ministerio de Sanidad, Observatorio Español de las Drogas y las Adicciones (OEDA), 2025 pnsd.sanidad.gob.es.
  9. [9] Problem gambling severity in a nationally representative sample of the Israeli population: the moderating role of ethnonational affiliation. Frontiers in Public Health (Gavriel-Fried et al.), 2023 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  10. [10] National burden of gambling in Japan: an estimation from an online-based cross-sectional investigation and national epidemiological survey. BMC Public Health (Hwang et al.), 2024 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  11. [11] Association between gambling disorder and suicide mortality: a comparative cohort study using Norwegian health registry data. The Lancet Regional Health Europe (Kristensen et al.), 2025 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  12. [12] Risk gambling in Brazil: National Prevalence and Structural Correlates from the Third Brazilian National Alcohol and Drugs Survey (LENAD III). Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry (Madruga et al.), 2026 europepmc.org.
  13. [13] Who gambles and who experiences gambling problems in Canada. Statistics Canada, Insights on Canadian Society (Rotermann and Gilmour), 9 August 2022 www150.statcan.gc.ca.
  14. [14] Problem gambling and subjective well-being: results of a study with a representative sample in Santiago (Chile). Scientific Reports (Oyanedel et al.), 2024 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  15. [15] Association of gambling activities and modalities with problem gambling in Japan: A nationwide cross-sectional online survey-based study. Addictive Behaviors Reports (Yoshioka et al.), 2025 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  16. [16] Social Connectedness and Associations with Gambling Risk in New Zealand. Journal of Clinical Medicine (Wang and Bellringer), 2022 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  17. [17] 2023-24 Socio-economic impact of gambling in South Africa: summary. National Gambling Board, n.d. ngb.org.za.
  18. [18] Tabellsammanställning Swelogs prevalensundersökning 2021. Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2023 fohm.se.
  19. [19] Problem Gambling Among Adolescents in Uganda: A Cross-sectional Survey Study. Journal of Gambling Studies (Anyanwu et al.), 2023 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  20. [20] A systematic review of gambling-related findings from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Journal of Behavioral Addictions (Loo et al.), 2019 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

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