The Gambling Commission has published new annual reports and updated datasets to enhance insights and statistics on gambling activities, yields, trends and prevalence across the UK.
Headline statistics on UK gambling have been mapped out in the Commission’s Annual Report for the April 2025-March 2026 financial year.
Insight on trends, participation and prevalence of gambling activities are presented in the third wave of datasets of the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB).
The project serves as the headline data collection, statistics fieldwork and insights programme of the Commission, initiated as of July 2023.
Audiences analysing the Commission report are warned by Ben Haden, Director of Research and Policy, Gambling Commission, that “the market shifts that we see in industry data trends, and this year is no different, are complex and will be down to a mix of factors that need more than one source to unpick”.
To help present the data, the Commission has published a new intelligence dashboard powered by Microsoft BI.
Online casino tips GGY to £17.5bn
The Annual Report shows 2025/26 as a record year for Great Britain’s gambling industry with gross gambling yield (GGY) up 4.4% to £17.5bn (£16.7bn in 2024/25).
This is the fifth consecutive year of overall GGY growth since the pandemic-hit 2020/21 total of £12.67bn (£13.48bn in real terms).
Gambling GGY excluding both the National Lottery and society lotteries was £13.2bn (up 4.7% yoy) with National Lottery revenue at £3.47bn and reflecting circa 20% of overall UK gambling GGY.
Figures combining all remote casino, betting and bingo GGY generated £8.3bn (+6.9%) representing about 63% of gambling GGY excluding lotteries. Land-based gambling GGY rose by 1.1% to £4.86bn.
Online casino is outlined as the growth driver as GGY increased by 14.8% to £5.7bn. Slots generated £4.79bn (+15.5%) which accounts for about 84% of online casino revenues.
Online casino added £735.8m in annual GGY above the £728.1m net increase for all gambling. The figures show how heavy the sector is becoming in Britain’s licensed gambling market.
Online betting GGY fell 6.6% to £2.45bn while retail betting revenues were down 3.3% (£2.42bn). These totals include all betting activities except sports betting.
Football was still the biggest online betting category with £1.17bn followed by horseracing at £769m.
The underlying data show that online betting turnover increased by only about 4.5% despite the drop in GGY (aggregate yield on stakes) so revenue decline doesn’t by itself mean less betting activity.
Online bingo also recorded a contraction, with GGY falling 13.8% to £148m.
Changing picture for land-based gambling
The report details the continued changed make-up of land-based gambling in the UK, with overhaul licences contracting as all licensed gambling venues fell by 2% to 8,080.
A breakdown of category saw betting shop numbers declined by 3.6% to 5,617, a net reduction of 208 shops – a figure that will drastically increase in 2026 due to gambling PLC’s undertaking extreme revisions of their betting shop estates – as confirmed by Betfred, William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral and Paddy Power.
Within land-based gambling, retail betting remained the largest component.
Casinos generated £934m, up 0.4%, while arcades recorded £800.1m, an increase of 10.7%. Land-based bingo GGY rose 8.2% to £703.8m.
Across land-based sectors, gaming machines generated approximately £2.7bn, up 4.3%. Machine revenues are included within the individual sector totals.
As of 31 March 2026, the Commission recorded 2,154 gambling operators, down 1.1%, holding licences for 3,097 gambling activities.
Survey stable … but generational divides appear
The GSGB dataset shows that gambling participation in Great Britain remained stable, with 49% of adults reporting gambling in the previous four weeks.
Excluding those who only participated in lottery draws, the rate fell to 28%, meaning 21% of adults took part exclusively in lottery draws during that period.
Participation was higher among men (53%) than women (44%) and highest among adults aged 45 to 64, at between 56% and 59%. However, excluding lottery-only players shifted the age profile younger, with 35-to-44-year-olds recording the highest participation rate at 35%.
After lottery draws, the most popular activities were scratchcards (13%), betting (10%) and online instant win games (8%). Betting showed a pronounced gender gap, with participation reported by 16% of men compared with 4% of women.
Online gambling participation stood at 39%, falling to 16% when lottery-only players were excluded, consistent with the same period last year.
In-person participation reached 29%, or 18% excluding lottery-only players. Respondents could participate through both channels, so these figures should not be added together.
The chance to win big money and enjoyment remained the leading reasons for gambling in the previous 12 months. Adults aged 18 to 24 were the only age group to cite fun as their most common motivation ahead of monetary reasons.
These figures measure gambling participation, rather than the prevalence of problem gambling or gambling-related harm.
The Gambling Commission’s research team emphasised that the report presents official statistics on gambling participation.
The regulator has cautioned that GSGB data are not directly comparable with previous gambling survey publications due to changes in methodology.”
The next quarterly release, covering Wave 2, April to July 2026, is scheduled for 3 December 2026, completing the third year of the GSGB research programme.
