Almost 50,000 young adults blocked themselves from online gambling sites last year – a staggering 37 per cent rise in just 12 months, new figures reveal.
The number of 18 to 24-year-olds resorting to what addiction experts call an “emergency brake” on their gambling has now rocketed 165 per cent in five years.
Some 42,716 young adults registered to shut themselves out of online gambling in 2025, compared with 31,104 the previous year and just 16,131 in 2021.
Separate Gambling Commission research reveals just over one in five 18 to 24-year-olds who had gambled in the previous year fell into its high or moderate-risk gambling categories.
The alarming findings come as smartphones have transformed gambling, putting what experts say amounts to a betting shop, casino, and slot machine in people’s pockets 24 hours a day.
An estimated 31 million adults in Great Britain – 59 per cent of the adult population – gambled at least once during 2025, according to the Gambling Commission.
Around 25 million – 47 per cent – had gambled within the previous four weeks.
Among 18 to 24-year-olds, one in three – 33 per cent – had gambled during the previous four weeks.
Gambling also starts before adulthood for many. Some 30 per cent of 11 to 17-year-olds spent their own money on some form of gambling during the previous year.
The dramatic new self-exclusion figures were obtained by national addiction treatment provider UK Addiction Treatment Group (UKAT) through a Freedom of Information request to the Gambling Commission.
They reveal young adults are turning to GAMSTOP – the free national service which allows people to block themselves from gambling websites and apps licensed in Great Britain – at a much faster rate than the rest of the population.
Across all age groups, GAMSTOP self-exclusions rose from 93,556 in 2021 to 171,054 in 2025 – an increase of 85 per cent.
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But among 18 to 24-year-olds they soared 165 per cent – almost twice the rate of increase across all ages.
Zaheen Ahmed, Head of Treatment at UKAT, said: “GAMSTOP is effectively the emergency brake for gambling – and the fact that more than 42,000 young adults felt they needed to pull it last year should make the entire industry sit up and listen.
“These aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet. These are 18 to 24-year-olds saying, ‘I need help stopping myself’. A 165% rise in five years is impossible to brush off as a blip.
“We have normalised gambling to an extraordinary degree, particularly among young people, with betting now just a few taps away on a smartphone.
“When gambling becomes difficult to escape, self-exclusion can be a vital first step – but we need to ask why so many people are reaching that point in the first place.”
Separate official figures reveal the scale of potentially harmful gambling among young people.
In 2025, 10.4 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds who had gambled during the previous year scored eight or more on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) – the category used to identify problem gambling.
A further 10.2 per cent scored between three and seven, putting them in the moderate-risk category.
This means 20.6 per cent – just over one in five young gamblers – fell into the two higher-risk groups.
The proportion in the problem-gambling category has risen from 9.1 per cent in 2023 to 10.4 per cent in 2025.
Experts say today’s young gamblers have easy access to placing a bet as smartphones mean they no longer have to visit a bookmaker or casino.
Smartphones allow access to bet on football or horse racing, spin online slot machines, play roulette, blackjack, poker as well as enter bingo games, gamble on virtual sports, e-sports and other events.
Sports and racing bets placed online are among the three most common gambling activities for 18 to 34-year-olds.
And among 18 to 24-year-olds who had gambled during the previous four weeks, the average was 3.6 different types of gambling activity – more than any other age group.
The Government has introduced tighter restrictions specifically for younger adults.
Since May 2025, people aged 18 to 24 have been limited to £2 per spin on online slots, compared with a £5 maximum for those aged 25 and over.
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