UK Gambling Commission Reports 4.4% GGY Growth in 2025-26 as Online Dominates

The UK Gambling Commission has published its industry activity report for the financial year April 2025 to March 2026, revealing a 4.4% increase in gross gambling yield (GGY) across all channels to £17.5 billion. The growth was primarily driven by remote gambling activities, which contrasted with continued decline in physical gambling premises.

Online Gambling Leads Market Expansion

Remote casino, betting and bingo activity generated £8.3 billion in GGY, marking a 6.9% year-on-year increase and accounting for approximately 63% of non-lottery industry yield. Online casino contributed £5.7 billion of this total, with slots alone generating £4.8 billion. Remote betting reached £2.4 billion, led by football (£1.2 billion) and horse racing (£769.3 million), while remote bingo produced £147.8 million in GGY.

Quarterly data from January to March 2026 reinforced this trend, with online verticals generating £2.2 billion. Remote casino alone accounted for 68.3% (£1.5 billion) of that quarterly total.

Retail Sector Continues Contraction

The land-based gambling sector produced £4.9 billion in GGY over the year, marking a modest 1.1% increase. However, the UK's physical gambling estate shrank by 2% to 8,081 premises, with betting shops declining for the twelfth consecutive period to 5,617 locations - a 3.6% decrease representing 208 fewer shops year-on-year.

Non-remote betting declined 3.3% to £2.4 billion, while non-remote casinos saw slight growth of 0.4% to £933.9 million. Non-remote bingo recorded an 8.2% increase to £703.8 million. Gaming machines in arcades generated £800.1 million in GGY, an increase of 10.7%, with adult gaming centres contributing £761.4 million of that total.

Regulatory Changes on the Horizon

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has proposed measures that would repeal the 'aim to permit' rule for betting shops and 24-hour slot machine arcades across Great Britain. The changes would remove the presumption in favour of granting permission for such venues, requiring adult gaming centres offering round-the-clock access to gambling machines to obtain planning approval.

The government is also considering imposing an increased tax on gaming machines based on a proposal from the Social Market Foundation, which could feature in the upcoming autumn budget.

Lottery Performance and Participation Trends

The National Lottery registered £7.9 billion in ticket sales, up 0.9%, with contributions to good causes increasing 2.8% to between £1.6 billion and £1.7 billion. Large society lotteries saw ticket sales grow 5.7% to £1.2 billion.

The Commission's annual Gambling Survey for Great Britain indicated stable participation patterns, with 49% of 5,277 adults surveyed reporting gambling within the past four weeks - consistent with previous years. Excluding lottery-only players, participation stood at 28%. Online gambling participation reached 39% (16% excluding lottery-only players), while in-person gambling participation was 29% (18% excluding lottery-only players).

Operator Landscape and Demographics

As of 31 March 2026, there were 2,154 licensed gambling operators (down 1.1%) but 3,097 separately licensed gambling activities (up 0.4%). The survey revealed betting participation skewed male (16% of men vs 4% of women), with overall gambling participation peaking among 45- to 64-year-olds (56%-59%).

Respondents cited motivations predominantly as seeking large winnings and entertainment, with 42% reporting positive feelings about their most recent gambling expenditure.