UK Gambling Statistics

by Glenn Baird - May 27, 2017

During those twelve months the total gross gambling yield amounted to £13.6bn. Of that figure the total amount yielded from the online sector was £4.5bn, making online gambling the most profitable sector within the UK gambling industry.

This sees a steady rise in online gambling, with online casinos making the bulk of the profit. There was also a rise in online sports betting with EURO 2016 boosting profits in the sector by roughly 10%.

Along with a rise in profit there were over 28 million new accounts registered online, a rise of roughly 5 million from the former period. This is all the more impressive when you consider that there are only approximately 50 million adults in the UK that could be opening up new accounts.

Concerns with problem gambling have been discussed for some time in the UK, hence the introduction of new self-exclusion options, where gamblers can ban themselves from outlets for a set period of time. Nearly 813 thousand gamblers in the UK took advantage of self-exclusion options, making up roughly 3.7% of the online accounts in the country.

Perhaps the most controversial figure within the published numbers, as reported by The Guardian, is the profit made by fixed odds betting terminals (FOBT). The £1.82bn of profit generated by FOBTs is likely to cause huge concern for those campaigning to have much tighter regulations placed on the machines. With a UK General Election just round the corner this number will add weight to the Labour and the Liberal Democrat’s manifestos that have promised to cut the current maximum bet of £100 down to £2.

The profits that FOBTs make has risen steadily over the years from just over £1bn in 2008-09 to the £1.82bn reported earlier this week.