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With late-night party events and even the rise of online bingo sites, the game continues to evolve. But how do we know where it’s most popular, who’s playing, and what actually draws people in? That’s exactly what we wanted to find out.
To get the whole picture, we looked at three key sources of data:
- A survey of 2,000 UK adults on their habits and attitudes towards bingo.
- Gambling Commission data on the number of bingo halls in each local authority, mapped per 100,000 residents.
- Search volumes for “bingo”, “online bingo”, and “bingo sites” in the UK’s biggest cities.
Together, this gives us insight into both sides of the game: how people are experiencing bingo in person, and how they’re searching for it online.
How many Brits play bingo?
Short answer, loads.
Nine in 10 (90%) adults say they’ve played bingo at least once, either online or in person. That leaves just 9% who have never tried it and 1% who can’t quite remember. In other words, bingo is part of everyday fun for many people nationwide, whether on a night out or on the sofa.
| Have You Ever Played Bingo? | |
|---|---|
Yes, in person | 43% |
Yes, online | 20% |
Yes, both | 27% |
No | 9% |
Can't remember | 1% |
*Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding
- People are roughly twice as likely to have played bingo in person as online (43% vs 20%).
- Women are more likely to have played online (23%) than men (18%).
- People aged 65+ overwhelmingly favour in-person play (70%), whereas people aged 25-34 are the most likely online players (39%).
Here is the twist that goes against the stereotype. Older adults are actually more likely to say they have never played bingo. The 55-64 group shows the lowest share of those who have tried it at 85%, with 65+ only a touch higher at 87%, compared to 93% to 94% across 18-44.
How people play changes with age, too. Younger adults are much more likely to go online or blend online with nights in the hall, while players aged 65 and up mostly keep it in person.
Wales is bingo-mad, with 95% of people having played, the highest of any UK region. However, playing in halls is biggest in South West England (52%), and Northern Ireland (34%) is the hotspot for online bingo games.
Is bingo appealing to younger generations today?
We’ve seen that most Brits have tried bingo. The next question is whether people think it actually clicks with younger generations.
| Do you think bingo is appealing to younger generations today? | |
|---|---|
Yes, much more than before | 24% |
Yes, slightly more than before | 28% |
No change | 17% |
No, I think it's slightly less appealing than before | 13% |
No, I think it's much less appealing than before | 9% |
Not sure | 9% |
*Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding
The majority (52%) say it is more appealing than before, with smaller shares saying there has been no change (17%) and that it has gotten less appealing (22%).
This could be down to how the game has reinvented itself (talk about a case of staying alive, 85). Bingo is no longer just quiet halls and dabbers, but lively nights with music, comedy, cheap tickets, and the chance to share it all on social media.
Who would pick bingo for a big night out?
Plenty of us have played, but the real question is whether we would actually book bingo for an event like a birthday or a hen night. About half (50%) say they are likely to choose bingo for a social event, while 45% say not likely.
How likely are you to consider bingo for a social event (e.g., birthdays, hen parties)? | |
Very likely | 15% |
Somewhat likely | 35% |
Not very likely | 24% |
Not at all likely | 21% |
Not sure | 6% |
*Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding
- Ladies, you clean the floor! At 54% vs. 43%, women are more likely to consider a bingo night out than men.
- The overall likelihood of going to bingo (very or somewhat likely) for a social event is highest in South East England, at 57%.
- People in Scotland are the least keen, with just over a quarter (26%) saying they are not at all interested in going to bingo for a night out.
Younger and mid-life adults are the ones most up for a bingo night out, with 25-34 at 69% likely and 35-44 close behind on 68%. Interest fades with age, though. Nearly five in 10 (46%) over-65s say they are not at all likely to book bingo for a big night, which is the highest “no thanks” of any group.
Women are more open to booking party bingo than men. Around 54% of women say they would consider it, compared with 43% of men. However, men are more split at the extremes: more say very likely (16% men vs 14% women), but many more also say not at all likely (27% men vs 17% women). In short, women tend to lean yes, while men divide into fans and refusers.
What makes a bingo night appealing?
If you are going to book bingo for a big night, what actually seals the deal? The answers point to the experience more than anything else. Fun and entertainment come out on top with 38% of people choosing this, followed by a relaxed atmosphere (35%).
What makes a night out at a bingo hall appealing to you? (Select all that apply) | |
Affordable drinks and food | 26% |
Relaxed atmosphere | 35% |
Fun and entertainment | 38% |
Social experience with friends | 28% |
Chance to win money/prizes | 28% |
It doesn't appeal to me | 19% |
- A relaxed atmosphere at bingo is more important for women (37%) than men (33%).
- However, men are more likely to go for the social experience with friends (32% vs 25% of women).
- According to almost three in 10 (28%) people, spending time with friends is just as important as winning.
Younger adults lean into the mood of the night. A relaxed atmosphere is especially appealing to 25-34-year-olds (46%), while 18-24-year-olds rate fun and entertainment highly (44%).
Interest in the chance to win jumps with age, peaking at 40% for 55-64 (when life begins), while the share who say a bingo night out doesn’t appeal to them climbs sharply, reaching 42% among 65+. Younger groups come for the vibe, whereas older groups care more about prizes… or skip it altogether.
Regionally, the allure of a bingo party depends on different things:
- South East England is the party-animal capital, with 42% saying they’d like a night out playing bingo for the fun and entertainment side of it.
- Players in Wales are most interested in the promise of affordability on a night out in a bingo hall (35%). They are also the social butterflies of the UK, with 32% rating the experience with friends highly.
- South West England is only there for the money, with 31% of respondents saying the chance to win is a big selling point.
Bingo hotspots across the UK
The UK cities with the most bingo halls
So, where in the UK are you most likely to stumble across a bingo hall? The answer is: head to the seaside. Great Yarmouth takes the top spot with nearly 15 halls per 100,000 people, just edging East Lindsey on 14.5.
| Rank | Local Authority | Bingo premises per 100k people |
|---|---|---|
1 | Great Yarmouth | 14.9 |
2 | East Lindsey | 14.5 |
3 | Hastings | 7.7 |
4 | Torbay | 6.4 |
4 | Tendring | 6.4 |
6 | Blackpool | 4.2 |
6 | Rother | 4.2 |
8 | Kingston upon Hull | 3.6 |
8 | Teignbridge | 3.6 |
8 | East Suffolk | 3.6 |
Further down the coast, Hastings comes in third with 7.7 halls per 100,000, while Torbay and Tendring tie for fourth on 6.4. These are all seaside spots where bingo often goes hand in hand with arcades, fish and chips, and a night out on the front.
Of course, no bingo map would be complete without Blackpool, which is joint sixth with 4.2 halls per 100,000 alongside Rother.
The UK cities searching most for bingo
We’ve seen where the halls are. Now, let’s look at where people are heading online. We’ve found the number of searches for ‘bingo’, ‘online bingo’, and ‘bingo sites’ and broken this down by population.
| Rank | City | Annual Searches for Biongo per 100k People |
|---|---|---|
1 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 3,750 |
2 | Manchester | 3,498 |
3 | Kingston upon Hull | 3,401 |
4 | Glasgow | 3,028 |
5 | Birmingham | 2,716 |
6 | Stoke-on-Trent | 2,647 |
7 | Brighton and Hove | 2,483 |
8 | Liverpool | 2,414 |
9 | Bristol | 2,343 |
10 | Edinburgh | 2,225 |
Search data puts Newcastle top of the list, with almost 3,800 searches per 100,000 people each year. Manchester (3,498) and Hull (3,401) follow closely, with Hull also featuring among the areas with the most bingo premises.
Northern cities dominate the rankings, with Glasgow, Liverpool, and Stoke-on-Trent all inside the top eight. Yet the survey showed Northern England was one of the regions with the lowest percentage of people who had previously played bingo online (16%). Maybe there’s interest there, but they haven’t taken the plunge.
Methodology
As specialists in games and entertainment, we wanted to explore the role bingo plays in British culture today and how its appeal is shifting across generations.
We used Gambling Commission data to find the number of premises listed as 'bingo' for each local authority and calculate the number per 100,000 people. We combined the data for any local authorities that have since merged.
We also surveyed 2,000 people in the UK, asking them the following questions:
- Have you ever played bingo?
- Do you think bingo is appealing to younger generations today?
- How likely are you to consider bingo for a social event (e.g., birthdays, hen parties)?
- What makes a night out at a bingo hall appealing to you? (Select all that apply)
Finally, we used Google Ads Keyword Planner to find the number of searches in the UK's biggest cities for the following terms between August 2024 and July 2025, calculating them per 100,000 people:
- Bingo
- Online bingo
- Bingo sites
All data was collected in August 2025 and is correct as of then.
