GB Gambling Yield Reaches £17.5bn as UKGC Studies Illegal Play

If lotteries are excluded, the number drops to £13.2 billion, which is a 4.7% increase. Remote betting, casino, and bingo made up £8.3 billion of this, marking a 6.9% increase.

Remote Carries Almost Two-Thirds of the Non-Lottery Market

Remote products make up 62.9% of the non-lottery yield, by a 15M calculation from the two figures in the speech. The regulator did not publish that share.

Remote services also saw a higher growth rate compared to the non-lottery market, 6.9% versus 4.7%. That puts the growth in online products rather than in the retail estate.

Participation Sits at 47%, or 27% Without Lottery Draws

The Gambling Survey for Great Britain revealed that 47% of people aged 18 and over had gambled in the previous four weeks. When excluding individuals who only participated in lottery draws, the rate was 27%. Gardner put the population at over 67 million.

These rates haven’t changed compared to the previous year and have been consistent for a while, she mentioned.

New Illegal Market Research Lands the Same Day

The Commission released additional research on the illegal online market on the day of the keynote. It covers who uses those sites and their wider motivations and attitudes.

This research expands on findings from the previous year, which classified illegal site users into four groups.

The first group, Self-Excluders, are those who bypass self-exclusion mechanisms.

Gardner also noted that the Budget included a £26 million, three-year commitment to enhancing the Commission’s efforts to combat illegal gambling. A panel at the conference had considered the role of B2B suppliers in serving both illegal B2C operators and licensed clients.

"Combined with other data sources, this will give us the best picture so far of the scale and trends of the illegal market," Gardner said of the Commission’s data work.

Regarding financial risk assessments, Gardner indicated that less than 3% of customer accounts would require an assessment under the new rules. The pilot phase has concluded, but there has been no decision to move forward with implementation. As a result, credit-reference checks are not currently a condition of holding a licence.