Gambling Commission estimates 1% of British gamblers use illegal platforms
Regulation1 min read
In brief
- The Gambling Commission said around 1% of Britain's gamblers used illegal platforms as of April 2026.
- In the survey, 0.6% had used illegal platforms in the previous four weeks.
- The regulator believes 94.4% of UK gamblers show no sign of using illegal sites.
By April 2026, the Commission puts illegal-platform use at roughly 1% of Britain's gamblers, and says it is overall confident of that estimate. Sue Gardner, the acting chief executive, presented this to industry leaders during the regulator's yearly CEO briefing.
Over the past year, the Commission has carried out research on unlicensed gambling. The government's 2025 budget gave the regulator an additional £26m earmarked for this work.
In her words, the figure is a baseline for building trend data, which will help evaluate and target interventions. She noted that the picture of the illegal market starts to develop when this is combined with other published data, such as last week's open banking analysis. Sue Young, the Commission's Executive Director for Operations, said: "We want to kick crime out of gambling", and described tackling illegal gambling as a priority because of the risks to consumers. The Commission recognises the difficulty yet expects a complete picture before long.
- Respondents who used illegal platforms in previous four weeks
- 0.6%
- UK gamblers showing no sign of using illegal sites
- 94.4%
- Extra funding granted to the Commission 2025 budget
- £26m