The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has published its Industry Statistics for the half-year reporting period between April 2020 and September 2020, providing the latest information on each sector it regulates.
The commission reported that the total gross gambling yield (GGY) for the industry was £5.9bn in the half-year. Excluding lotteries, the total GGY for the industry stood at £4bn.
National Lottery ticket sales totalled £3.9bn, supporting a GGY equivalent of £1.6bn, making the lottery the second largest sector by GGY. Over the same period, the primary contribution to good causes totalled £775.1m.
However, the UKGC noted that figures were influenced by the various lockdown rules across the country during this period as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Land-based sectors were most affected, but the restrictions also hit live sporting events which had an impact on remote operators as well.
As a consequence of this, the commission did not include estimates where returns have either been late or not yet due as it was concerned about a potential lack of accuracy. The UKGC accepted that, as a consequence, some figures risk understating actual totals.
The regulator also reported that remote (online) gambling was the largest combined sector by GGY during the period with £3.1bn, 52.3% of the overall market.
Online casino games dominate the sector, generating £1.9bn GGY, mostly from slots games. Meanwhile, remote betting GGY totalled £1bn, led by football and horse betting, and remote bingo GGY totalled £98.1m.
The commission declared that non-remote betting GGY was the third largest sector by GGY with £629.3m. Within off-course betting data, machines GGY totalled £304.9m. Machines represented 48.5% of total betting GGY. Total numbers of betting premises have continued to decline for the seventh consecutive reporting period to 6,735 (-12.3%).
Lotteries (excluding the National Lottery and small society lotteries), saw a GGY equivalent of £310.5m, with a balance to good causes at £196.8m.
In the arcades sector, adult gaming centres totalled £97m in GGY and licensed family entertainment totalled £7.7m. This data does not include family entertainment centres that operate using a permit from a local authority.
The UKGC announced that non-remote bingo GGY totalled £92m, with machines representing 46.2% of the total bingo GGY. The non-remote casino sector totalled £67.0m in GGY, with machines representing 27.7% of the total casino GGY. Machines GGY across all sectors totalled £470.6m. B3 with £396.8m is now the highest machine category for GGY.
The number of licensed activities decreased to 3,468 (-1.7%). These licences are held by 2,522 operators (-2.1%). The overall number of licensed gambling premises in Great Britain fell by 1,092 to 9,036 (-10.8%). The majority of these were betting premises which declined by 948 (-12.3%).
The commission noted that the next full year’s data for the reporting period April 2020 – March 2021 is due to be published in November.