Statistics and research release
Industry Statistics - November 2020
The latest statistics cover the period between April 2019 – March 2020.
Summary
Also published recently
Gambling Industry Statistics are published twice a year (in May and November) and provide the latest information on each sector regulated by the Gambling Commission.
The latest statistics cover the period between April 2019 – March 2020.
Industry Statistics report on the size and shape of the gambling industry in Great Britain.
This report provides an overview of Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) by sector, along with the numbers of licensed operators and premises. It is based on data reported to us by the operators we licence and regulate.
Please note that a change in regulations reducing maximum stakes from £100 to £2 for Category B2 machines took effect in April 2019. This publication includes the first financial year of data submitted since the change of regulations.
Land based sections of the industry were forced to stop trading due to Covid-19 restrictions from March 20th 2020, Thus affecting the last 11 days of this reporting period. This restriction also affected live sporting events which would have potential to impact on remote operators also.
An accompanying data file has more detail, including historical data back to 2009.
Key facts
£14.2bn Total gross gambling yield (GGY) of the gambling industry in Great Britain (Apr 2019 – Mar 2020) (0.6% decrease from Apr 2018 – Mar 2019).
£10.2bn Total gross gambling yield (GGY) of the gambling industry in Great Britain (excluding lotteries) (Apr 2019 - Mar 2020) (4.5% decrease from Apr 2018 - Mar 2019).
10,098 Total number of premises in Great Britain (March 2020) (6.4% decrease from Mar 2019).
7,681 Total number of betting shops in Great Britain (March 2020) (7.7% decrease from March 2019).
£2.1bn Total GGY for gaming machines in Great Britain (Apr 2019 - Mar 2020) (25.6% decrease from April 2018 - March 2019) (excludes those requiring only a local authority permit).
£12.1m Total GGY for category B2 machines in Great Britain (Apr 2019 – Mar 2020) (99.0% decrease from Apr 2018 – Mar 2019).
£1.5bn Total GGY for category B3 machines in Great Britain (Apr 2019 – Mar 2020) (39.5% increase from Apr 2018 – Mar 2019).
£5.7bn Total GGY for Remote Betting, Bingo & Casino Sector (Apr 2019 – Mar 2020) (8.1% increase from Apr 2018 – Mar 2019).
£2.4bn Total GGY for non-remote betting (including machines) (Apr 2019 – Mar 2020) (26.4% decrease from Apr 2018 – Mar 2019).
£635.9m Total GGY for non-remote bingo (including machines) (Apr 2019 – Mar 2020) (5.7% decrease from Apr 2018 – Mar 2019).
£1.0bn Total GGY for non-remote casino (including machines) (Apr 2019 – Mar 2020) (4.0% decrease from Apr 2018 – Mar 2019).
£366.8m Contributions to good causes from large society lotteries (Apr 2019 – Mar 2020) (10.7% increase from Apr 2018 – Mar 2019).
£1.7bn Contributions (to good causes) from The National Lottery (Apr 2019 – Mar 2020) (11.6% increase from Apr 2018 – Mar 2019).
Details
Total GGY for the industry was £14.2bn in the year April 2019 to March 2020. This represents a marginal decrease of £84.1m (-0.6%) on the previous reporting period.
Remote (or online) gambling is the largest combined sector by GGY. With £5.7bn GGY, it comprises 39.9% of the overall market. Remote sector GGY increased by £426.3m (8.1%). Online casino games dominate the sector, generating £3.2bn in GGY, mostly from slots games. GGY for remote betting totalled £2.3bn, led by football and horse betting. Remote bingo grew 0.9% to £176.8m.
National Lottery ticket sales increased by £696.4m to £7.9bn. This supported a GGY equivalent increase of £319.9m (10.4%), to £3.4bn, making the National Lottery the second largest sector by GGY. Over the same period, the primary contribution to good causes increased by £172.3m (11.6%) to £1.7bn. For more information on National Lottery sales, please see our returns to good causes report.
Non-remote betting GGY was the third largest sector by GGY with £2.4bn (-26.4%). GGY for off-course, on-course and pool betting all decreased. Within off-course data, machines GGY decreased by £751.6m (-41.2%) (see Machines section below). Machines represented 44.7% of total betting GGY. Total numbers of betting premises have continued to decline for the sixth consecutive reporting period to 7,681 (-7.7%).
The non-remote casino sector saw a decrease of £42.8m (-4.0%) in GGY, to £1.0bn. This was caused by a decrease in GGY from casino games of £38.8m (-4.6%). GGY from casino-based machines decreased by £3.9m (-1.8%).
Non-remote bingo GGY decreased to £636.0m (-5.7%), continuing a steady decline.
Lotteries (excluding the National Lottery and small society lotteries), saw a GGY equivalent increase to £611.6m (13.3%), with balance to good causes at £366.8m, a £35.6m (10.7%) increase from the last reporting period. This is the highest contribution figure reported to date.
In the arcades sector, adult gaming centres showed an increase of £36.1m (9.3%) in GGY, reporting £424.8m. GGY for licensed family entertainment centres also increased (5.3%), reporting £52.4m. Note that this data does not include family entertainment centres which operate using a permit from a local authority.
Machines GGY over the year to March 2020 across all sectors decreased by £719.1m (-25.6%). Across all sectors, GGY from Category B2 machines decreased by £1.2bn (-99.0%) to £12.1m. B3 is now the highest machine category for GGY, increasing by £434.7m (39.5%) to £1.5bn.
The number of licensed activities has decreased to 3,528 (-3.5%). These licences are held by 2,576 operators (-4.2%).
The overall number of licensed gambling premises in Great Britain has fallen by 685 to 10,098 (-6.4%). The majority of these were betting premises which declined by 639 (-7.7%)
Notes
This publication is primarily for anyone who has an involvement or interest in the gambling industry including government, licensed operators, trade bodies, international regulators, journalists, academic researchers, financial institutions, statisticians, consumers and local authorities.
About the status of official statistics.
Read about how we prepare our Industry Statistics.
Read about the terms we use in Industry Statistics.
We intend to publish the next Industry Statistics in May 2021.
Data and downloads
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Feedback
We are always keen to hear how these statistics are used and would welcome your views on this publication.