The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has published its latest set of industry statistics, as it looks to provide a snapshot of activity, market changes and trends across all gambling sectors.
The statistics, which detail the period from October 2016 to November 2017, reveal that the non-remote casino sector suffered a decrease in casino games gross gambling yield of £8.1m, from £956.9m to £948.7m.
The key source of the deductions came from American Roulette which saw a decrease of £18.8m to £335.8m. Blackjack also endured a reduction from £180.6m to £178.3m.
On the other hand, electronic gaming proved to be an area of growth within casinos, enjoying a year-on-year increase in gross gaming yield. Additionally, the total number of casinos located in the UK increased by two, with there now being 152 UK casinos.
More generally, the overall gross gambling yield throughout the measured period in the country increased 0.7% from the period of Apr 2016 – Mar 2017 to £13.9bn, much thanks to growth in the remote gambling sector.
Remote gambling retained its status as the largest sector within the gambling industry, constituting for 35.2% of the overall market reporting a £4.9bn gross gambling yield.
On the other hand, the gross gambling yield of non-remote gambling decreased by £93.7m to £3.3bn, a figure that will be of concern to operators with a strong retail presence as the climate for non-remote betting could become tougher in coming years, due to impending regulations.
UKGC UK Gambling Statistics – Headline Findings
- £13.9bn total gross gambling yield (GGY) of the Great Britain gambling industry (0.7% increase from Apr 2016 – Mar 2017)
- £4.9bn total GGY for the online sector (3.7% increase from Apr 2016 – Mar 2017)
- 35% market share of the remote sector (1.0% increase from Apr 2016 – Mar 2017)
- 106,366 total number of employees in the Great Britain gambling industry (0.8% decrease from Mar 2017)
- 8,532 total number of betting shops in Great Britain (3.2% decrease from Mar 2017)
- 183,928 total number of gaming machines in Great Britain (0.7% decrease from Apr 2016 – Mar 2017) (excludes those requiring only a local authority permit)
- 649 total number of bingo premises in Great Britain (Mar 2018) (2.0% increase from Mar 2017)
- 152 total number of casino premises in Great Britain (Mar 2018) (2 more than Mar 2017)
- 1,810 total number of licensed arcades in Great Britain (Mar 2018) (3.5% decrease from Mar 2017).
