Great Britain Gambling Market Reaches £17.5 Billion in Gross Gambling Yield

The customer-facing gambling industry in Great Britain generated £17.5 billion in gross gambling yield (GGY) during the financial year from April 2025 to March 2026, representing a 4.4% increase compared with the previous financial year. The figures were published on 17 September 2026 in the Gambling Commission’s annual industry statistics.

Excluding reported lotteries, gambling GGY reached £13.2 billion, an increase of 4.7% compared with the previous year. The statistics cover gambling activity involving customers in Great Britain and are based on regulatory returns submitted by licensed operators.

Remote casino, betting and bingo generated £8.3 billion in GGY during the year, an increase of 6.9%. Online casino represented the largest component of the remote sector, producing £5.7 billion in GGY. Slots accounted for £4.8 billion of online casino GGY, while roulette generated £395 million.

Remote betting generated £2.4 billion in GGY, with football and horse racing accounting for the largest portions. Football betting generated approximately £1.2 billion, while betting on horse racing generated £769.3 million. Remote bingo contributed £147.8 million.

Remote betting GGY declined during the year despite the overall growth of the remote gambling sector. Revenue from remote betting fell by 6.6% to £2.448 billion, compared with £2.621 billion during the previous financial year. Football betting GGY declined from approximately £1.33 billion to £1.165 billion, while horse-racing betting remained broadly stable at approximately £769 million.

Online casino revenue increased by 14.8% to £5.699 billion. Slots generated £4.790 billion, accounting for approximately 84% of remote casino GGY. The £735 million increase in remote casino GGY was greater than the £728 million increase recorded across the gambling industry as a whole.

The land-based gambling sectors, comprising arcades, betting, bingo and casinos, generated £4.9 billion in GGY, an increase of 1.1%. Within this total, non-remote betting GGY declined by 3.3% to approximately £2.4 billion. Gaming machines in betting shops generated approximately £1.2 billion, representing 49.4% of GGY in the non-remote betting sector.

Non-remote casino GGY increased by 0.4% to £933.9 million. Casino games generated £695 million and casino machines generated £238.9 million. Non-remote bingo GGY increased by 8.2% to £703.8 million, consisting of £242.1 million from bingo games and £461.7 million from bingo machines.

Arcade GGY increased by 10.7% to £800.1 million. Adult gaming centres accounted for £761.4 million, representing an 11.3% increase, while family entertainment centres generated £38.6 million, a decrease of 0.5%. The statistics exclude family entertainment centres operating under local-authority permits.

Gaming machines across Great Britain generated £2.7 billion in GGY during the financial year, an increase of 4.3%. The number of gaming machines in licensed premises stood at 191,804 during the final quarter covered by the statistics.

The number of licensed gambling premises continued to decline. There were 8,081 licensed gambling premises in Great Britain at the end of the financial year, representing a 2.0% reduction from the previous year. Betting shops accounted for 5,617 of those premises, a reduction of 208, or 3.6%. The number of betting shops has declined for 12 consecutive reporting periods.

The number of gambling operators also decreased. There were 2,154 gambling operators in the market at 31 March 2026, 1.1% fewer than a year earlier. Those operators held 3,097 licensed gambling activities, an increase of 0.4%.

Remote gambling account activity also changed during the reporting period. New account registrations with remote casino, betting and bingo operators fell by 3.0% to 32.4 million. The number of active accounts at the end of the final reporting quarter was 25.7 million, while funds held in customer accounts totalled £886.6 million, representing a 13.9% decrease compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.

Lottery activity formed a significant part of the overall industry figures. National Lottery ticket sales reached £7.9 billion, an increase of 0.9%. Approximately £4.5 billion was returned to players as prizes, while contributions to good causes reached approximately £1.7 billion, an increase of 2.8%.

Large society lotteries recorded ticket sales of £1.2 billion, representing a 5.7% increase. Prizes amounted to £335.6 million, while contributions to good causes totalled £498.5 million, an increase of 2.8%.

The Gambling Commission's statistics are based on information supplied through regulatory returns by licensed operators. The dataset provides figures for customer-facing gambling sectors and includes historical information extending back to the financial year ending March 2009. Changes made to regulatory reporting in July 2024 harmonised reporting periods across operators, with reporting periods aligned to calendar quarters.

The annual figures were released together with quarterly statistics for the fourth quarter of the 2025–26 financial year and the latest data from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain. The Gambling Commission has stated that the industry statistics and survey data provide separate sources for examining gambling activity and trends.

The figures show different movements across the individual gambling sectors during the year to March 2026. Overall GGY increased by 4.4%, while remote casino revenue increased substantially, remote betting declined, land-based gambling recorded a smaller increase, and the number of licensed gambling premises and operators decreased.

The next annual industry statistics are scheduled to cover April 2026 to March 2027 and are due to be published in autumn 2027. The Gambling Commission has also stated that updated core industry statistics will be published on a quarterly basis using data collected through regulatory returns.