Great Britain Gambling GGY Reaches £17.5 Billion As Online Casino Grows

Great Britain gambling GGY reached £17.5 billion in the year to March 2026, with online casino growth doing most of the work. Remote betting went the other way, while the number of licensed betting shops continued to fall.

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Good to Know

• Total gambling GGY rose 4.4% to £17.5 billion.
• Remote casino, betting and bingo GGY reached £8.3 billion, up 6.9%.
• Online casino GGY jumped 14.8% to £5.7 billion, led by slots.

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Online Casino Carries Great Britain Gambling Growth

Online casino produced the clearest increase across the British gambling market during 2025/26.

GGY from remote casino reached £5.7 billion, up 14.8% year on year. Slots generated £4.79 billion, an increase of 15.5%, and accounted for about 84% of remote casino GGY.

That growth helped remote casino, betting and bingo reach £8.3 billion in combined GGY, up 6.9%. By comparison, total GGY excluding reported lotteries rose 4.7% to £13.2 billion.

Online betting delivered a very different result. GGY fell 6.6% to £2.45 billion even though betting turnover increased by about 4.5%. Football remained the largest online betting category at £1.17 billion, ahead of horseracing at £769 million. Online bingo fell 13.8% to £148 million.

Retail Revenue Holds Up As Betting Shops Decline

Land based gambling GGY rose 1.1% to £4.86 billion, but the physical estate became smaller.

Great Britain had 8,081 licensed gambling premises at the end of the reporting period, down 2%. Betting shops fell 3.6% to 5,617. Gaming machines across land based sectors produced about £2.7 billion in GGY, up 4.3%.

Lottery activity remained a large part of the overall total. National Lottery GGY reached about £3.47 billion, while all licensed lotteries together accounted for £4.3 billion. The National Lottery operates under a separate statutory framework based on the National Lottery etc. Act 1993 rather than the main commercial gambling framework under the Gambling Act 2005.

The latest Gambling Survey for Great Britain also found that 49% of adults had gambled during the previous four weeks. Participation fell to 28% when people who only played lottery draws were removed. The Gambling Commission notes that participation figures do not by themselves measure gambling harm.

Ben Haden, Director of Research and Policy at the Gambling Commission, said:

“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.”

He added:

“I welcome our capacity to publish industry data alongside the Gambling Survey for Great Britain to encourage and assist in the consideration of key questions from these different perspectives.”

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FAQ

How much GGY did Great Britain gambling generate in 2025/26?

Customer facing gambling GGY reached £17.5 billion in the financial year to March 2026, up 4.4%.

How much did online casino generate?

Remote casino GGY reached £5.7 billion, up 14.8%, with slots producing about £4.79 billion.

Did online sports betting grow?

No. Remote betting GGY fell 6.6% to £2.45 billion even as turnover increased by about 4.5%.

How many betting shops remain in Great Britain?

The Gambling Commission recorded 5,617 betting shops, down 3.6% year on year.

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