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Statistics and research release

Industry Statistics – November 2022

The latest statistics cover the period between April 2021 to March 2022.

Summary

Gambling Industry Statistics report on the size and shape of the customer facing gambling industry in Great Britain.

This report provides an overview of Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) made by licensed gambling operators from Great British (GB) gambling customers for each customer-facing sector, along with the numbers of licensed operators and premises. It is based on data reported to us by the operators we license and regulate. The accompanying data file includes figures for all sectors, based on data from April 2021 to March 2022, as well as historical data back to 2009.

Various lockdown rules and restrictions (opens in new tab) throughout the last two reporting periods have significantly impacted the gambling industry. These measures were most severe during the reporting period April 2020 to March 2021, though at the beginning of the latest period considered in these statistics, lockdown restrictions were still in the process of being lifted (opens in new tab).

We have not included estimated figures where returns have either been late or are not yet due, as we would not expect the previous period’s heavily pandemic affected figures to be comparable to the figures from this reporting period. We accept that this may result in some figures which underestimate the actual totals. The methodology used for estimations in previous publications is available on our website.

Interactive dashboard

View our Industry Statistics interactive dashboard (opens in a new tab)

Accessibility of this dashboard

This dashboard is in Microsoft Power BI which may not fully support all accessibility needs. You can find the source data in Industry Statistics - November 2022.

Some files may not be accessible for users of assistive technology. If you require a copy of the file in an accessible format contact us with details of what you require. It would help us to know what technology you use and the required format.

Key facts

  • £14.1 billion - Total Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) of the Great Britain gambling industry
    (April 2021 to March 2022) (10.9% (percent) increase from April 2020 to March 2021 and 0.8% decrease from April 2019 to March 2020).

  • £9.9 billion - Total GGY of the gambling industry in Great Britain (excluding all reported lotteries)
    (April 2021 to March 2022) (16.5% increase from April 2020 to March 2021 and 2.4% decrease from April 2019 to March 2020).

  • 8,408 - Total number of premises in Great Britain
    (31st March 2022) (2.5% decrease from 31st March 2021 and 17.1% decrease from 31st March 2020).

  • 6,219 - Total number of betting shops in Great Britain
    (31st March 2022) (3.8% decrease from 31st March 2021 and 19.1% decrease from 31st March 2020).

  • £6.4 billion - Total GGY for Remote Betting, Bingo and Casino Sector
    (April 2021 to March 2022) (6.2% decrease from April 2020 to March 2021 and 12.4% increase from April 2019 to March 2020).

  • £3.5 billion - Total GGY for Land-based Sectors (Arcades, Betting, Bingo and Casino)
    (April 2021 to March 2022) (110.5% increase from April 2020 to March 2021 and 21.5% decrease from April 2019 to March 2020).

  • £1.8 billion - Total GGY for gaming machines in Great Britain
    (April 2021 to March 2022) (96.3% increase from April 2020 to March 2021 and 12.6% decrease from April 2019 to March 2020).

  • £1.7 billion - Primary Contributions (to good causes) from The National Lottery
    (April 2021 to March 2022) (0.5% decrease from April 2020 to March 2021 and 3.4% increase from April 2019 to March 2020).

  • £417.0 million - Contributions to good causes from large society lotteries
    (April 2021 to March 2022) (3.8% increase from April 2020 to March 2021 and 13.4% increase from April 2019 to March 2020).

  • 2,419 - Gambling operators in the market
    (31 March 2022) (0.9% decrease from March 2021 and 6.3% decrease from March 2020).

  • 3,339 - Gambling activities licenced
    (31 March 2022) (0.9% decrease from March 2021 and 5.5% decrease from March 2020).

Details

Remote gambling

Remote Casino, Betting and Bingo (RCBB) accrued £6.4 billion Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) which can be broken down into 3 individual areas:

  • online casino games dominate the sector, generating £3.9 billion in GGY, £3.0 billion of which was from slots games
  • GGY for remote betting totalled £2.4 billion, led by football (£1.1 billion) and horse betting (£768.5 million)
  • GGY for remote bingo totalled £183.5 million.

This reporting period saw a decrease in the number of new account registrations with RCBB operators (down 1.0 percent to 32.6 million). In comparison to the latest pre-lockdown period however, there is an increase by 9.1 percent. The number of active accounts went up 7.0 percent to 31.9 million and 5.9 percent from pre-lockdown. The total funds held in customer accounts was at £910.5 million at the end of the reporting period. This is a £16.7 million (1.9 percent) increase on the previous period end and a £217.9 million (31.5 percent) increase on the last pre-lockdown period end.

Non-remote gambling

Non-remote betting Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) was the third largest sector by GGY with £2.1 billion (a 105.6 percent increase on the previous lockdown heavy period and a 11.9 percent decrease on the latest pre-lockdown period).

GGY at venues (on-course), at betting shops (off-course), and pool betting all replicated the increase and decrease with reference to lockdown and pre-lockdown periods. Within off-course data, machines GGY increased by £590.6 million to £1.0 billion during the last period but decreased by £13.6 million (1.3 percent) from the latest pre-lockdown period. Machines represented 50.0 percent of total GGY in the non-remote betting sector.

Total numbers of betting premises have continued to decline for the eighth consecutive reporting period to 6,219 (19.1 percent down on the pre-lockdown period).

The non-remote casino sector saw a £575.1 million increase in GGY to £691.8 million (casino games at £511.2 million and casino machines at £180.6 million) for this last reporting period. This followed a decrease of £900.9 million in GGY (casino games by £718.1 million and casino machines by £182.8 million) during the lockdown heavy period.

Non-remote bingo GGY saw a £142.5 million increase to £388.6 million (bingo games at £147.4 million and bingo machines at £241.2 million) for this last reporting period. This followed a decrease of £330.1 million (bingo games by £170.1 million and bingo machines by £160.0 million) during the lockdown heavy period.

In the arcades sector, adult gaming centres showed a GGY increase of £21.7 million (9.3 percent), to £255.4 million for this last reporting period. This followed a decrease of £149.1 million during the heavy lockdown period. GGY for licensed family entertainment centres decreased, by 5.9 percent to £22.9 million. This followed a decrease of £23.8 million during the heavy lockdown period. Note that this data does not include family entertainment centres which operate using a permit from a local authority.

Lotteries

During April 2021 to March 2022 The National Lottery ticket sales totalled £8.1 billion, of which £4.6 billion was returned as prizes and the primary contribution to good causes totalled £1.7 billion. Each of these were lower than the previous period (by 3.5 percent, 5.0 percent and 0.5 percent respectively) however, they were higher than in the April 2019 to March 2020 reporting period (by 2.4 percent, 2.4 percent and 3.4 percent respectively).

During April 2021 to March 2022 lotteries (excluding The National Lottery and small society lotteries) ticket sales totalled £919.1 million, of which £253.3 million was returned as prizes and the contribution to good causes totalled £417.1 million. Each of these are the highest figures reported to date, comprising increases of 5.4 percent, 7.0 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively, compared to 2020-21 and increases of 10.4 percent , 15.5 percent and 13.4 percent, respectively, compared to 2019-20.

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 official statistics.

Read about how we prepare our Industry Statistics.

We intend to publish the next industry statistics in November 2023. These will cover the period from April 2022 to March 2023.

Data and downloads

Files

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