Gambling - Industry Figures, May 2019

The Gambling Commission has recently published industry statistics for the period October 2017 – September 2018.  The statistics which are published twice a year (in May and November) and provide the latest information on each sector regulated by the Gambling Commission.

The published headline figures are:

• £14.5bn – total Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) of the Great Britain gambling industry (Oct 2017 – September 2018) (0.4% decrease from Apr 2017 – Mar 2018)
• 106,670 – number of employees in the Great Britain gambling industry (September 2018) (1.4% decrease from March 2018)
• 8,423 – number of betting shops in Great Britain (September 2018) (1.5% decrease from March 2018)
• 650 – number of bingo premises in Great Britain (September 2018) (1.1% decrease from March 2018)
• 152 – number of casinos in Great Britain (September 2018) (1 more than March 2018)
• 1,639 – number of licensed arcades in Great Britain (September 2018) (5.3% decrease from March 2018)
• £5.6bn – Gross Gambling Yield for the remote sector (October 2017 – September 2018) (2.9% increase from Apr 2017 – March 2018)
• 39% - the market share of the remote (online) sector (October 2017 – September 2018) (1.2% increase from April 2017- March 2018)
• 183,813 – number of gaming machines in Great Britain (October 2017 – September 2018) (2.4% increase from April 2017 – March 2018) (excludes those requiring only a local authority permit)
• £1.5bn – contributions to good causes from The National Lottery (October 2017 – September 2018) (0.3% increase from April 2017 – March 2018)
• £314m – contributions to good causes from large society lotteries (April 2017 – March 2018) (5.1% increase from April 2017- March 2018)

The figure reflect a marginal decline across the wider gambling industry however the online gambling sector continues to grow.

The effect of the B2 stake reductions, which took effect in April ’19, on the land based industry will be published in due course.  Several industry commentators predict pronounced declines. 
We shall keep you updated.