Participation by Sex
The Gambling Survey for Great Britain, 2024 measures whether adults gambled during the four weeks before taking part in the survey. Its participation rates include people who bought lottery tickets, so the figures describe a wider range of activity than casino gambling alone. Looking separately at lottery-only play and online activity changes the size of the difference between women and men. The figures below keep those measures distinct and identify the source and year for each rate.
Any gambling in the past four weeks
The Gambling Survey for Great Britain, 2024 found that 44% of women and 51% of men had gambled in the previous four weeks. The survey’s overall rate was 48% of adults. The confidence intervals shown for women and men indicate the ranges reported around those estimates; they are not additional participation rates.
| Survey group or measure | Rate | 95% confidence interval |
|---|---|---|
| Women | 44% | 43.2–45.4% |
| Men | 51% | 50.0–52.4% |
| Adults overall | 48% | Not stated here |
These headline rates include lottery-only participation. The Gambling Survey for Great Britain, 2024 also reports that, when lottery-only play is excluded, the past-four-week rate is 25% for women and 31% for men. For online gambling, the corresponding rates are 34% for women and 41% for men; excluding online lottery-only play, they are 12% and 21%, respectively. The lottery-inclusive and lottery-excluded figures answer different questions, so they should not be treated as interchangeable estimates.
The overall rate of 48% sits between the estimates for women and men, while the lottery-inclusive difference between the sexes is seven percentage points. A percentage-point gap is the subtraction of one rate from another, rather than a statement that one group is a particular percentage more likely to gamble. Because the overall measure includes lottery draws, it captures participation that a casino-focused description would miss. A 44% past-four-week rate makes women a large part of gambling participation, not a niche exception.
When lottery-only play is removed
Removing people whose only reported gambling was lottery play lowers the past-four-week participation rates in the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, 2024 to 25% for women and 31% for men. The difference is six percentage points on this measure, compared with seven percentage points in the lottery-inclusive rates of 44% and 51%. These are separate calculations: the first excludes lottery-only participants, while the second counts them as having gambled.
The same distinction matters for in-person activity. In the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, 2024, in-person gambling excluding lottery-only play was reported by 18% of women and 18% of men. That equal rate contrasts with the six-point difference in the broader measure excluding lottery-only play, which includes activities beyond in-person gambling. Neither measure should be used as a substitute for the other.
The figures describe the 2024 survey and its own measurement approach. They are not directly comparable with older surveys, so a difference between a 2024 rate and a figure from an earlier survey cannot by itself establish that participation rose or fell. For comparisons by sex within these 2024 results, keep the same definition in view: any gambling, gambling excluding lottery-only play, and in-person activity excluding lottery-only play are distinct measures.
Online play
In the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, 2024, online gambling in the past four weeks was reported by 34% of women and 41% of men. When online lottery-only play is excluded, the rates were 12% for women and 21% for men. The first pair counts online lottery participation; the second describes online activity among people who reported something beyond lottery-only play.
Lottery draws affect the size of the apparent participation gap because taking part in an online draw counts toward the lottery-inclusive online measure. Including those participants gives a seven-percentage-point difference between men and women, while excluding online lottery-only play gives a nine-point difference. This change reflects the different inclusion rule, not a direct measure of how often each person gambles or how much they spend.
The distinction also helps explain why a headline focused on casino-style activity can give an incomplete impression of participation. The Gambling Survey for Great Britain, 2024 records online lottery play within the broader online rate, while the lottery-excluded rate removes people whose online gambling was limited to lottery play. Read together, the two measures show both the breadth of online participation and the narrower rate for other online gambling; neither rate should be presented as if it described the other.
Problem Gambling Among Women
The Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) groups survey responses by the extent of gambling-related risk and harm reported. The figures below concern people who gambled in the past 12 months, rather than all women or all men in Great Britain. They distinguish lower PGSI scores from the higher score band associated with problem gambling. A separate measure records whether a respondent reported at least one severe consequence. Read together, these measures describe reported experiences in the Gambling Survey for Great Britain 2024, not a diagnosis of any individual.
PGSI scores for women who gamble
Among women who gambled in the past 12 months, 13.0% scored 1–2 on the PGSI, 3.9% scored 3–7, and 2.8% scored 8 or more, according to the Gambling Survey for Great Britain 2024. The PGSI labels scores of 1–2 as low risk, 3–7 as moderate risk, and 8 or more as problem gambling. These are survey bands based on reported answers, not clinical diagnoses.
The percentages use past-year gamblers as their denominator. They do not describe the share of all women in Great Britain, and they should not be read as estimates for women who did not gamble during that 12-month period. The bands also describe different levels of reported risk; they are not interchangeable measures of a single outcome.
Separately, 1.8% of women who gambled in the past year reported at least one severe consequence. This measure concerns reported consequences, while the PGSI bands classify responses to the index. A respondent’s PGSI band and reported consequences should therefore be understood as related survey information, not as proof of a particular personal history or diagnosis. The figures give a specific account of women’s reported gambling-related experiences in the survey period.
Compared with men
The 2024 survey reports higher male percentages in each PGSI band and in the share reporting at least one severe consequence. The comparison below uses past-12-month gamblers for both groups.
| Measure | Women | Men | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| PGSI score 1–2 | 13.0% | 16.5% | Men higher by 3.5 percentage points |
| PGSI score 3–7 | 3.9% | 6.6% | Men higher by 2.7 percentage points |
| PGSI score 8+ | 2.8% | 6.0% | Men higher by 3.2 percentage points |
| At least one severe consequence | 1.8% | 3.5% | Men higher by 1.7 percentage points |
The difference column is the arithmetic difference between the reported percentages, expressed in percentage points. It compares survey shares; it does not explain why they differ or establish what any individual will experience.
The same PGSI bands apply to both groups, so the rows allow a like-for-like comparison of reported scores. The severe-consequence measure is shown separately because it records whether respondents reported at least one such consequence, rather than assigning them to a PGSI band. All figures refer to past-year gamblers in the 2024 survey.
What the gap does not mean
The female percentages are lower than the male percentages in the reported measures, but that comparison has limits. These interpretations should be rejected:
- A lower female rate is not zero harm: women appear in every reported PGSI band, including the score 8+ band.
- The claim that women do not have gambling problems is false on these figures; the survey reports women in the PGSI 8+ category.
- The survey figures do not state why women gamble or receive particular scores, so motives or causes cannot be inferred from the sex comparison.
- Relationship breakdown was the most reported severe consequence among all past-year gamblers, at 1.6%; this figure is not specific to women.
These results describe reported survey measures for groups, not the circumstances or outcomes of every woman who gambles. The overall consequence figure should not be recast as a female-only rate.
Products, Bingo and Myths
Product labels and gender stereotypes can make gambling claims sound more certain than the evidence allows. A search phrase, a review headline and a survey result are different kinds of information. Claims about women’s choices need direct data that identifies both the product and the sex of respondents. Rules for age and licensing apply to customers without a separate standard for women. The points below help distinguish evidence from assumptions when reading product claims and reviews.
What the sex split does not prove about bingo
The available results do not provide a product-by-product participation table by sex. They therefore cannot show what proportion of women play bingo, or support a comparison between women’s bingo participation and their use of other products. A headline about women and bingo is not a substitute for a survey result with a defined sample, question and reporting period.
The phrase “bingo women” may appear in search queries, but it is a search phrase, not a finding about women’s behaviour. It does not establish that bingo is mainly played by women, that women prefer it, or that a woman’s choice can be inferred from her sex. Such claims require product-specific data that reports the relevant denominator and makes clear how respondents were classified.
When evaluating a claim about bingo, look for the original survey question and the year of fieldwork, then check whether the figures refer to all adults or only people who gambled. Without those details, a percentage can be misread as a rate for women when it may describe a different group. No bingo rate by sex can be inferred from a general sex split, and the same caution applies to claims about slots or casino games.
Myths to drop
Several familiar claims confuse gender, product choice and evidence. These statements should be rejected rather than treated as explanations of women’s gambling.
- “Women do not gamble.” This is an absolute claim about a diverse population and cannot be established by stereotypes or by a figure that compares participation between sexes.
- “A lower PGSI rate means women experience no harm.” A group-level rate does not prove that every person in that group is unaffected or that individual harms are absent.
- “Women mainly play bingo.” Without product-by-product participation figures split by sex, that claim has no supporting rate or comparison.
- “A casino review aimed at women implies a different licence.” A review’s intended audience does not create a sex-specific Gambling Commission licence or regulatory category.
- “Women and men face different minimum ages.” For gambling covered by the relevant age rules, the minimum age is 18 for women and men.
These corrections separate evidence about people from assumptions attached to products or marketing. The PGSI, licence conditions and customer terms are not sex-specific, so claims about them should not imply a separate standard for women.
Reading a review that talks about women
A review that refers to women is more useful when its claims can be checked against evidence and the rules that apply to customers. Look for these details before relying on a gender-related statement.
- Check whether statistics name their source, fieldwork year, sample and question. A dated survey citation is more verifiable than an unattributed percentage or a general claim about women.
- Read licence information as a general regulatory condition, not a gender-specific benefit. A Gambling Commission licence does not change with the sex of the customer.
- Check whether a claimed preference has direct product-by-product figures split by sex. A broad participation comparison cannot supply a bingo, slots or casino-games rate for women.
- Confirm that age and licence requirements are described as applying to adults generally. The minimum age is 18 for women and men under the relevant gambling age rules.
- Notice whether the review separates opinion from measurable facts. A writer’s description of an audience or design is not evidence of women’s participation, preference or risk.
These checks also clarify what regulatory terms mean: the licence, customer terms and PGSI are not sex-specific. A review can discuss women as its audience, but that framing does not alter the applicable rules or establish a separate pattern of play.
Questions About Women and Gambling
The 2024 Great Britain survey reports participation, PGSI scores and reported consequences as distinct measures. Each answers a different question: whether someone gambled recently, whether their responses met a risk threshold, or whether they experienced a severe consequence. The figures have different denominators, which matters when interpreting them. Read together, they describe gender differences without treating any product or experience as exclusive to women.
Do women gamble less than men in Britain?
In 2024, 44% of women and 51% of men reported gambling in the past four weeks, a seven-percentage-point difference (Gambling Survey for Great Britain, 2024). These figures cover any gambling during that period, rather than only online or non-lottery activity. Lottery draws narrow the gap when participation is counted with lottery-only play included. The comparison therefore depends partly on whether lottery-only participation is part of the measure; the figures do not indicate how often people played or how much they spent.
What share of women gamblers score as problem gambling on the PGSI?
The 2024 figure is 2.8%: that is the share of women who gambled in the past year and scored 8 or higher on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), according to the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, 2024. The denominator is women who gambled in the past year, not all women in Britain. A score of 8 or higher is the PGSI problem-gambling threshold. This percentage describes a survey classification, not an individual diagnosis or a count of every woman who experienced any gambling-related difficulty.
Is bingo a women’s game?
No. This page does not provide product-by-product sex rates and does not claim bingo is a women’s game. A broad sex split in gambling participation cannot establish who plays a particular product: that requires data reporting bingo participation by sex over a defined period. Without those product-specific rates, describing bingo as a women’s game would go beyond the evidence. Bingo is a gambling product, not proof of a fixed gender preference.
Does a lower PGSI rate mean women are not harmed?
No. A lower PGSI rate is not the absence of harm: 1.8% of women reported at least one severe consequence, according to the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, 2024. PGSI scores of 8 or higher and reports of severe consequences are distinct indicators, so the threshold percentage cannot represent every adverse experience. A population-level rate also cannot determine what happened to an individual woman. The survey records a measurable share of women reporting severe consequences, even where a PGSI rate is lower.