Cookies on the Gambling Commission website

The Gambling Commission website uses cookies to make the site work better for you. Some of these cookies are essential to how the site functions and others are optional. Optional cookies help us remember your settings, measure your use of the site and personalise how we communicate with you. Any data collected is anonymised and we do not set optional cookies unless you consent.

Set cookie preferences

You've accepted all cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.

Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. About us
  3. Annual report and Accounts 2019 to 2020

Report

Annual report and Accounts 2019 to 2020

Making gambling fairer and safer

Published
16 November 2020

Last updated
16 November 2020 - Changes

Document actions
Print or save (opens in new tab)

  1. Contents
  2. Performance analysis
  3. Overview of the gambling sector

Overview of the gambling sector

Within these following pages are key statistics and comparison data relating to the gambling industry in Great Britain during 2019-20, alongside tables referred to within the Chief Executive’s foreword.

The information covers general industry statistics, online betting, sports betting, gambling harm, and the National Lottery. Data is collected and analysed from a wide range of sources to ensure the Commission is up-to-date with industry statistics and gambling-related research.

The industry

  • total GGY of British gambling industry: £14.3 billion1 – down 0.5% when compared to April 2018-March 2019
  • total GGY of British remote/online sector up 4.3%1 when compared to April 2018-March 2019
  • 98,174 people employed by the industry1 – down 4.4% from March 2019.

Graph A - Gross gambling yield vs participation - This graph shows the gross gambling yield for in person gambling, lotteries (in person and online) and online gambling (excluding lotteries) for the time period 2015 to 2019. It also shows the past 4 week participation rate for both online and in person betting. 1

Graph B - Slots GGY - the graph shows the number of bets placed both in person and online during the time period 2008 to 20191*

2

  • First full year the Commission had direct figures for the extent of online gambling was 2015/16. GGY data is based on October-September and participation data is based on year to December.

In Great Britain, there are:

  • 155 casinos1
  • 642 bingo premises1
  • 7,315 betting shops1
  • 1,633 licensed arcades1
  • 185,203 number of gaming machines1

Consumers

  • approximately 24.7 million2 adults gambled in 2019 – up 1% since December 2018
  • approximately 11 million2 had gambled online – up 3% since December 2018
  • 50%2 of online gamblers use their mobile to gamble – up 6% since December 2018

Graph C - Consumer trust in gambling - This graph shows the levels of consumer trust in gambling for the time period 2015 to 2019. There are 3 lines going in a downward slope. The lines show all participants, those who have gambled in the past 12 months and those who have not gambled in the past 12 months.2

Graph D - Device used for online gambling in the past four weeks - The graph shows the devices used for online gambling for the time period 2015 to 2019. The graph shows a decrease in the number of laptop/PC/tablet users over time, and an increase in the number of mobile users over the same period. 2

  • 3 million had bet on football2 – stable since December 2018
  • 21% of online gamblers have bet in play2 – down 2% since December 2018
  • 5% of gamblers have self-excluded2
  • approximately 340,000 adults are problem gamblers3
  • 1.2 million adults are at a low risk of problem gambling3
  • 550,000 adults are classed as a moderate risk3.

National Lottery

  • £1.79 billion raised for good causes last year
  • £42 billion raised for good causes since 1994
  • approximately 15.5 million reported buying a National Lottery ticket in the past four weeks2.

References

1Industry statistics October 2018-September 2019. Published in May 2020

2Gambling participation in 2019: behaviour, awareness and attitudes – (February 2020).

3Gambling Behaviour in Great Britain in 2016 Report – (September 2018)

Previous section
Chief Executive and Accounting Officer's message Next section
A year in review
Is this page useful?
Back to top