The UK Gambling Commission's Industry Statistics report, published on 17 September 2026, shows the British gambling market generated £17.5 billion in Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) for the financial year April 2025 to March 2026, a 4.4% increase on the previous year. Excluding all reported lotteries, GGY was £13.2 billion, up 4.7%. This is the fifth consecutive year of overall growth since 2020-21.
Online Casino And Slots Drive Growth
Remote casino, betting, and bingo GGY rose 6.9% to £8.3 billion, and online casino products were the clearest driver of that growth. Online casino GGY, including slots, reached £5.7 billion, a 14.8% rise. Online slots specifically generated £4.79 billion, up 15.5%, and now account for roughly 84% of online casino revenue.
Online betting told a different story. GGY from remote betting fell, even though the volume of wagers placed rose by 4.5% over the same period. The Commission's own report cautions that market shifts "are complex and will be down to a mix of factors that need more than one source to unpick," and this particular pattern, rising wagers alongside falling revenue, points to narrower margins and pricing pressure on operators rather than a fall in player activity.
Land-Based Sector Grows Slightly As Betting Shops Keep Closing
Land-based gambling, covering arcades, betting, bingo, and casino venues, generated £4.9 billion, a smaller 1.1% increase. The picture within that total is mixed: retail betting revenue declined, while casino revenue edged up slightly, and arcades and land-based bingo both grew. Arcade GGY rose 10.7% to £800.1 million.
The number of licensed gambling premises in Great Britain fell 2.0% to 8,081. Betting shops accounted for most of that decline, falling 3.6% to 5,617, continuing a run of consecutive year-on-year decreases. The number of registered gambling operators also fell, down 1.1% to 2,154.
Gaming Machines And Player Participation
Gaming machine activity across land-based venues grew, generating £2.7 billion in GGY overall, up 4.3%. Adult gaming centres saw particularly strong growth, with GGY there up 11.3% to £761.4 million.
Gambling participation itself held broadly stable. Across a four-week period surveyed between January and May 2026, 49% of adults reported gambling in some form, a figure that falls to 28% once the survey excludes lottery-only participants. Participation was higher among men (53%) than women (44%), and highest among the 45 to 64 age group, at 56% to 59%.
What This Means For Players
Ben Haden, the Commission's Director of Research and Policy, said the regulator welcomes the "capacity to publish industry data alongside the Gambling Survey for Great Britain to encourage and assist in the consideration of key questions." For UK players, the headline takeaway is that online slots and online casino products remain the fastest-growing part of a market that continues to expand overall, even as the number of physical betting shops on the high street keeps shrinking.
