The Gambling Commission's latest report covering the financial year from April 2025 to March 2026 reveals that gross gambling yield (GGY) across all sectors rose by 4.4% to £17.5 billion. This increase is primarily attributed to the surge in remote, or online, gambling, contrasting with a decrease in physical gambling venues, indicating a shift in consumer preferences.
Excluding lottery activities, GGY climbed to £13.2 billion, reflecting a 4.7% increase year-over-year. Remote gaming activities, including casinos, betting, and bingo, emerged as the leading sector, generating £8.3 billion in GGY, a 6.9% rise from the previous year. This segment now represents approximately 63% of the non-lottery yield.
Within the remote sector, online casino operations accounted for £5.7 billion, of which £4.8 billion came from slot machines. Remote betting generated £2.4 billion, predominantly from football at £1.2 billion and horse racing at £769.3 million, while remote bingo yielded £147.8 million.
The first quarter of 2026 repeated this upward trend, with online sectors reporting £2.2 billion in revenue, remote casinos alone contributing £1.5 billion, making up 68.3% of that total. The overall industry's GGY in the first three months amounted to £4.4 billion, or £3.4 billion when excluding lotteries.
By March 31, 2026, the number of licensed gambling operators stood at 2,154, down 1.1% from the previous year. Conversely, the count of distinctly licensed gambling operations increased slightly by 0.4% to 3,097.
The land-based gambling sector, which includes adult gaming centres (AGCs), betting shops, bingo halls, and casinos, produced £4.9 billion in GGY, exhibiting a modest year-on-year increase of 1.1%. Yet, this sector witnessed a contraction, with licensed gambling premises decreasing by 2% to 8,081. In particular, betting shops declined for the twelfth consecutive time, numbering 5,617 after a decrease of 3.6%, equating to a loss of 208 shops over the year. Major retail operators, like William Hill and Betfred, have collectively closed hundreds of shops in this period.
Non-remote betting figures reached £2.4 billion, down 3.3%, while non-remote casinos achieved £933.9 million (up 0.4%), and non-remote bingo secured £703.8 million, a notable increase of 8.2%. Gaming machines in various venues reported £800.1 million in GGY, representing a 10.7% increase, largely attributed to adult gaming centres, which earned £761.4 million, up by 11.3%. Overall, gaming machines contributed £2.7 billion to GGY, a rise of 4.3%, with a total of 191,804 machines reported in licensed facilities during the last quarter.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has proposed a range of measures aimed at repealing the existing "aim to permit" rule for betting shops and 24-hour slot machine arcades across Great Britain. This change would eliminate the automatic presumption in favor of granting permission for such establishments, with AGCs in England potentially needing planning approval to operate continuously. Additionally, the Prime Minister is contemplating a tax increase on gaming machines based on suggestions from the Social Market Foundation, which could be included in the forthcoming autumn budget.
Regarding the National Lottery, it reported ticket sales of £7.9 billion, reflecting a 0.9% increase, while prize payouts slightly dipped by 0.6% to £4.5 billion. Contributions to charitable causes increased by 2.8%, totaling an estimated £1.6 billion to £1.7 billion. Similarly, large society lotteries saw a growth in ticket sales of 5.7% to £1.2 billion, with prizes rising by 6.1% to £335.6 million and contributions up 2.8% to £498.5 million.
In terms of gambling participation, the Gambling Commission's annual Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) reported steady trends among the 5,277 adults surveyed from January to May 2026. Approximately 49% indicated they had gambled within the last four weeks, consistent with previous years. When discounting those who exclusively played lottery games, participation decreased to 28%, suggesting that lottery-only participants constitute around 21% of the adult population. Online gambling participation reached 39% (or 16% without lottery players), while in-person gambling participation was recorded at 29% (18% excluding lottery players).
Among the most popular non-lottery activities during this timeframe were scratchcards at 13%, betting at 10%, and online instant win games at 8%. Participation in betting showed significant gender disparity, with 16% of men engaging in betting compared to 4% of women. The majority of participants were aged 45 to 64, showing a peak in gambling engagement, while those excluding lottery players showed highest participation among the 35 to 44-year-old demographic at 35%. Reasons for gambling included seeking large winnings and entertainment, with 42% of respondents expressing positive feelings about their most recent gambling expenses.
