The 2016 Northern Ireland Gambling Prevalence Survey identified 2.3% of people as being problem gamblers. That number is four times the figure for England.
While Northern Ireland's number decreased 0.3% from 2010, Christian Action Research and Education (CARE), said the findings are concerning and demonstrates a need for government authorities to tackle problem gambling.
CARE's Northern Ireland Policy Officer, Mark Baillie, told Premier's News Hour the reasons why Northern Ireland has higher figures aren't clear.
"It may be because Northern Ireland has a greater level of deprivation in some areas, it may be cultural factors related to the view of gambling in different communities in Northern Ireland," he said.
"It's pure speculation, we're not really sure why exactly this is the case but it's been illustrated in a number of surveys that Northern Ireland in particular has this issue compared to other parts of the United Kingdom".
The survey, which questioned 1,004 revealed 75 percent of agreed that gambling is dangerous to family life.
Baillie said CARE has seen problem gambling cause harm to individuals and families.
He explained: "We hear of things like family breakdown caused by problem gambling, divorce, mental health problems for the individual and also family members due to the stress caused because of financial loss and debt.
"The effects can be wide ranging on families, and children can significantly lose out because of consequences of problem gambling".
The report shows that the most common form of gambling is the national lottery and the average problem gambler spends £47 on gambling.
Findings also show that online gambling has more than doubled from 6.7% in 2010 to 15.8% in 2016.
Baillie told Premier News Hour revamping regulations can help: "If an individual has difficulties online, what we want to see is a way an in which an individual can self-exclude from all gambling websites rather than having to self-exclude from each one individually.
"There has been some good steps taken on that, but we want to see that fully implemented for individuals living in Northern Ireland."
