New UK Gambling Commission research estimates that 4% of people who gambled online in Great Britain during the previous year had engaged with illegal gambling websites during the same period.
The Phase 4 research separates the estimate by recency. It classified 2.5% of online gamblers as users within the previous four weeks and another 1.5% as users within the previous twelve months but not the latest four weeks.
Across the entire survey population, including people who did not gamble, the estimates were lower. The index placed 0.6% in the latest four-week group and another 0.4% in the twelve-month group. A further 4.6% showed limited indications that were not strong enough for classification as illegal-site users.
The regulator built the measure from seven self-reported behaviours in the Gambling Survey for Great Britain. Those signals include using a VPN to reach a blocked gambling site, using cryptocurrency or a credit card for gambling and choosing a site that did not require identity checks. The underlying data covers April 2025 to April 2026.
The commission also released an updated data dashboard. Its announcement says engagement was more common among men and younger adults, while warning that hidden-market activity is inherently difficult to measure.
