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Gambling spend on the rise heading into a packed sporting year
UK gambling activity is already picking up pace in 2026 — and new data from Nationwide Building Society suggests the trend is only set to accelerate. The lender recorded a 9% year-on-year increase in the total value of customers’ gambling transactions in January alone, with the number of individual transactions rising 7% over the same period.
High spenders driving the numbers
The figures, drawn from a Censuswide survey of 2,000 UK gamblers commissioned by Nationwide, paint a striking picture at the top end of the market. The highest-spending 10% of gamblers wagered an average of £745 per month — a figure that underlines just how concentrated gambling expenditure can be among a relatively small group of players.
A sporting calendar fuelling the appetite
Much of the anticipated growth is being driven by what promises to be an exceptionally busy year for sport. Some 68% of current gamblers said they expect to increase their betting activity in 2026, with the men’s FIFA World Cup cited as the single biggest driver at 59%. The Champions League and its final followed at 34% and 30% respectively, while Royal Ascot was flagged by 20% of respondents as a key betting occasion.
Why people gamble and the sides of the data
Beyond the sporting calendar, the survey shed light on the motivations behind gambling behaviour. Entertainment was the primary driver for 53% of respondents, followed by the thrill of winning at 46%, while 18% admitted that boredom was their main motivator.
Also, 17% of respondents said they gambled out of a need for extra money to cover essential bills, and 6% reported that gambling had negatively impacted their standard of living. On the broader question of experience, 42% of adults who had gambled in the past 12 months described it as a positive one — compared to 21% who reported a negative impact.
