Statistics and research release
Industry Statistics - November 2021 - Superseded
The latest statistics include the period between April 2020 and March 2021.
Summary
Also published recently
This report has been superseded by the report Industry Statistics – July 2022 Revision. The updated report includes a revised and more comprehensive dataset than this report, which was affected by the impact of Covid-19.
Gambling Industry Statistics report on the size and shape of the gambling industry in Great Britain.
This brief 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.
The production of the most recent Industry Statistics for the period April 2020 to March 2021 has been affected by the impact of Covid-19, the lack of and quality of data submissions from some operators and resource required for the consequential quality assurance. Therefore, the latest publication only contains figures for Remote Casino, Betting and Bingo (RCBB), the National Lottery, and the numbers of operators and licences held for the period between April 2020 to March 2021. We have already announced that targeted regulatory action around industry data submissions will feature in our business plan for 2022 to 2023.
The accompanying data file includes figures for all other sectors, based on data from April 2019 to March 2020, as well as historical data back to 2009.
The various lockdown rules and restrictions (opens in new tab) throughout the latest reporting period have significantly impacted the gambling industry. This mainly involved land-based sectors of the industry, but the restrictions also affected live sporting events which would have potentially impacted the remote sector. Therefore, we have not included estimates where returns have either been late or are not yet due as we would not have confidence in their accuracy. We accept that this may result in some figures which underestimate the actual totals. Our methodology page explains estimations further.
Key facts
£6.9 billion Total GGY for Remote Betting, Bingo & Casino Sector (April 2020 – March 2021)
(18.4% increase from April 2019 – March 2020).£1.7 billion Primary Contributions (to good causes) from The National Lottery (April 2020 – March 2021)
(4.0% increase from April 2019 – March 2020).2,439 Gambling operators in the market (April 2020 – March 2021)
(5.4% decrease from April 2019 – March 2020).3,368 Gambling activities licenced (April 2020 – March 2021)
(4.6% decrease from April 2019 – March 2020).
Details
Remote, Casino, Betting and Bingo (RCBB) accrued £6.9 billion GGY which can be broken down into 3 individual areas:
- Online casino games dominate the sector, generating £4.0 billion in GGY, £2.9 billion of which was from slots games.
- GGY for remote betting totalled £2.6 billion, led by football (£1.2 billion) and horse betting (£856.1 million).
- GGY for remote bingo totalled £189.1 million.
We have seen the highest annual National Lottery sales since we started reporting these statistics, along with strong levels of Returns to Good Causes. National Lottery ticket sales totalled £8.4 billion, of which £4.9 billion was returned as prizes. Over the same period, the primary contribution to good causes totalled £1.7 billion. More information on National Lottery sales can be found in our returns to good causes report.
As of 31 March 2021, there were a total of 2,439 operators (5.4% decrease on the previous period) licensed by the Gambling Commission, 369 of which operate across more than one sector. Between them, operators held licences (remote and or non-remote) that entitled them to conduct 3,368 activities (4.6% decrease).
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 official statistics.
Read about how we prepare our Industry Statistics.
There will be a revision to these statistics published on 28 July 2022.
The next new set of Industry Statistics, covering the period between April 2021 and March 2022, will be published on 24 November 2022.
Data and downloads
Files
Feedback
We are always keen to hear how these statistics are used and would welcome your views on this publication.
Give us feedback about these statistics (opens in a new tab).