UK Gambling Commission Scores Consumer Trust in Betting Industry at 47.9 Out of 100

The UK Gambling Commission has published its first full-year composite trust score for the British gambling industry, and the number lands right around the midpoint: 47.9 out of a possible 100. The figure comes from a new consumer trust question embedded in the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB), the regulator’s large-scale, quarterly research tool that gathers data from tens of thousands of adults across Great Britain.

The score is designed to give regulators, operators and the public a single, trackable metric for how much bettors and casino players actually trust the industry that serves them — covering everything from fairness of games to how quickly winnings get paid out.

How the Trust Index Is Built

The Commission’s trust question asks anyone who has gambled in the past 12 months to react to eight statements covering five core themes: regulation and accountability, protection and safety measures, transparency and fairness, advertising and promotion, and customer experience and support. Respondents rate their agreement with each statement on a five-point scale, from “agree strongly” down to “disagree strongly,” with “neither agree nor disagree” and “don’t know” also available.

Only five of the eight statements — the ones tied to the core, permanent drivers of trust — feed into the headline composite score. Each response is converted to a point value (100 for “agree strongly” down to 20 for “disagree strongly,” with “neither agree nor disagree” scored at 60), averaged across the five core statements, and rolled up into the 0-100 index. The remaining three statements track emerging or shifting concerns and can be swapped out over time without disturbing the historical trend line.

The 47.9 figure reflects data collected from January 2025 through January 2026, drawing on a combined sample of more than 12,000 people who reported gambling in the past year. The Commission notes the metric is still “in development” and should be read as indicative rather than final while it continues refining the methodology through 2026.

Where Trust Is Highest and Lowest

The breakdown shows real variation depending on what’s being asked. Regulatory oversight and accountability scored the highest marks, echoing the Commission’s 2024 research that first identified accountability as the strongest single driver of consumer trust. Clarity around odds and promotional offers also performed relatively well.

On the other end, confidence in the fairness of games and machines came in lower, as did trust that adequate protections exist for young and vulnerable players — an area regulators and operators alike have been under pressure to address as safer-gambling requirements have tightened across the UK market.

Age also plays a role. Trust levels rise steadily with age, with 18-to-24-year-olds reporting the lowest overall confidence in the industry and those 75 and older reporting the highest. That generational gap mirrors patterns seen in other consumer-trust research, where newer, more digitally native customers tend to be more skeptical of brand and industry claims regardless of sector.

Why the Baseline Matters

Because this is the first year the trust question has run consistently across all four GSGB waves, the Commission is treating 47.9 as a baseline rather than a verdict. Going forward, the survey will be published annually, giving regulators, operators, and researchers a consistent year-over-year benchmark to see whether reforms — such as affordability checks, stake limits, or advertising restrictions — are actually moving the needle on how bettors feel about the industry.

For operators, the message is straightforward: transparency around odds, fast and friction-free withdrawals, and visible safer-gambling tools are the levers most likely to move consumer sentiment. Bettors who want a clearer sense of how a book stacks up on those fronts can compare terms directly through resources like sportsbook reviews, which break down withdrawal speed, promotional clarity, and account protections operator by operator.