Online Gambling Statistics in the UK

General Gambling Industry Statistics for the UK

1. The number of gambling industry employees in the UK surpassed 87,000 as of 2019.

(Statista)

By the end of September 2019, Great Britain’s gambling industry employed around 0.3% of the country’s workforce. The betting sector topped the charts with approximately 46,123 employees, followed by casinos, bingo parlours, and arcades. Gaming machine technical support employed the smallest section of the populace, with 6,583 workers.

Note that the number of employees in the gambling industry, based on gambling industry statistics, has drastically reduced over the years due to technological advancements. We now have a tremendous increase in the number of online betting platforms, reducing the need to hire hospitality and maintenance workers.

2. The number of brick-and-mortar UK gambling establishments shrank from 10,793 in March 2019 to 9,036 in September 2020.

(Statista)

When analysing gambling data, we discovered a decline in the number of physical gambling shops throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We could also attribute this decrease to the rise of online gambling platforms thanks to technological advancements.

3. The most prominent online gambling age group in the UK are 45- to 54-year-olds.

(Statista)

Based on the UK’s online gambling statistics from September 2021, Generation X has the highest share of gamblers. This age group made up 32.8% of respondents who took the survey, followed by the 35 - 44 age range, which had a 28.8% share. Other age groups that took part in the survey include 16- to 24-year-olds, 25- to 34-year-olds, 55- to 64-year-olds, and those older than 65. They accounted for 15.8%, 25.2%, 28%, and 18.8% of the sample, respectively.

4. There are more male than female gamblers in the UK.

(Statista)

In the UK, online gambling is just barely more appealing to men than women. Out of all who had taken part in the survey, 44.5% of male respondents had participated in gambling, while 39.6% of female respondents had taken part in gambling in the four weeks leading up to the survey.

5. 29% of gamblers believe gambling is fair in Great Britain.

(UKGC)

When real money is at stake, gamblers like to know they’re being treated fairly. Therefore, different regulatory bodies have been set up in most countries to ensure gambling transparency. In the UK, the country’s Gambling Commission is responsible for ensuring fair play in the gambling industry.

In an annual report by the UKGC, statistics drawn from data gathered between April 2020 and March 2021 showed that 29% of the respondents believed Great Britain’s gambling establishments offered fair games. This demonstrates a decline in faith from 2016, when about 34% of respondents agreed to the same statement.

6. Online gambling accounted for 48.9% of the GGY in the UK between 2020 and 2021.

(UKGC)

The UK online gambling market has undoubtedly progressed over the past few years. Statistics show that the remote or online gambling sector is the largest sector of the British gambling market. With a GGY of £6.9 billion, the online gambling sector accounted for nearly 49% of the commercial gambling revenue in Britain from April 2020 to March 2021.

7. The GGY of the British commercial gambling market was £14.1 billion in 2019/2020.

(UKGC)

The Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) of the British commercial gambling market, i.e., the total amount made from stakes and bets after payouts, decreased by around £0.3 billion since the 2017/2018 reporting period.

UK Online Gambling and Betting Industry Statistics

8. The GGY of the online gambling industry grew by £1.2 billion from 2020 to 2021.

(UKGC)

The GGY went up from roughly £4.8 billion between 2016 and 2017 to £5.68 billion between 2019 and 2020. The pandemic only exacerbated this trend, and the industry earned over a billion pounds more than that between 2020 and 2021.

UK online gambling charts showed that the GGY of the online gambling industry (remote betting, online bingo and internet casinos) is still on the rise. A report by the Gambling Commission published in November 2021 revealed that the total GGY for remote betting, bingo, and casino sector was around £6.9 billion.

9. 10.5 million out of approximately 24 million gamblers in the UK gamble online.

(The European Business Review, UKGC)

Considering the ease of gambling online, it is no surprise that the number of online gamblers keeps increasing every year. Online gambling UK statistics from a 2020 article by the European Business Review revealed that just over 40% of UK gamblers do their business online.

The UKGC puts the number of the UK’s online gamblers in 2020 at approximately 12.1 million. Compared to the data from 2019, the number of online gamblers increased by about 1.3 million.

10. About 50% of online gamblers gamble on their phones.

(UKGC)

Phone betting statistics reveal that half of online gamblers play casino games and place bets through their phones, although desktop gambling is still prevalent, at 71%.

11. 4.9% of the UK’s population took part in sports betting in 2021.

(Statista)

Sports betting has been popular in the UK for several decades, and as such, represents a large market in the commercial gambling industry. In fact, online gambling industry statistics show that millions of people yearly bet on their favourite sports, primarily football, horseracing, and greyhound racing, either via brick-and-mortar bookies, or licensed betting websites. About 5.6% of the UK’s public took part in sports betting in 2021.

12. 2.5 million people bet on football in the UK.

(UKGC)

Football betting statistics in the UK Gambling Commission’s annual report revealed that approximately 2.5 million people in the UK bet on football. We have already established that sports betting is a big deal in the UK gambling industry, so these numbers are no surprise.

13. 18% of UK residents gamble.

(UKGC)

The UK is among the top countries dominating the gambling industry globally. From previous gambling data and stats, we saw that the GGY generated from gambling in the UK alone was higher than the GDP of some countries.

Seeing nearly one-fifth of UK residents gamble, it is no surprise that the industry is growing and generating more revenue yearly.

14. The GGY of the remote betting sector of the gambling industry reached £2.6 billion in 2021.

(UKGC)

It is no news that interest in online game betting has increased in recent years; in fact, betting statistics for the UK show that the GGY of the remote betting market of the UK gambling industry in 2021 was approximated to be about £2.6 billion.

15. 17.6% of gamblers voted Ladbrokes as the best bookmaker.

(Statista)

It is one thing to place bets, and another thing to be assured that you are making the most of your bets in all ramifications. With several bookies in the UK betting market, you want to make sure that you use the ones that offer the most value to you as a punter.

Betting companies statistics show that gamblers also thought William Hill was worthy of their patronage - 12.7% of them thought so, to be exact. Next in line were Paddy Power, Bet365, Betfair, Coral, and Skybet, with 12.7%, 9.7%, 9.1%, 7.7%, and 7.7%, respectively.

16. The online bingo sector generated about £189 million between 2020 and 2021.

(UKGC)

The bingo sector of the UK gambling industry is considered the fourth most profitable sector for operators, based on online gambling statistics for the UK. Bingo generated over £189 million between April 2020 and March 2020. The GGY of the online bingo sector for the 2019/2020 period was £175.8 million. In comparison, the brick-and-mortar bingo parlour GGY for the same period was £575 million.

17. Online casinos generated about £4 billion in GGY between April 2020 and March 2021.

(UKGC)

The online casino sector is one of the top profitable industries in the UK, as reflected in online casino statistics. Online casinos dominated the remote gaming sector in 2021, according to statistics reported by the Gambling Commission.

The online casino sector generated nearly 60% of all remote gambling revenue. The stats show that £2.9 billion was generated from slot games alone. The rest was contributed by sports betting and bingo.

18. 14% of Britons took part in National Lottery draws in 2021.

(Statista)

We can classify the online National Lottery sector as the leading sector in the UK online gambling and betting industry. Although not technically commercial gambling, millions of people participate yearly in the National Lottery draws in the UK. Almost 9.5 million citizens took part, vastly oustripping all other gambling sectors in the UK in terms of participation.

19. The collective funds in remote gambler accounts amounted to £838.2 million in 2020.

(Statista)

The amount of money kept in online gambling accounts by UK players was much lower in 2019, at £697.9 million. However, as the pandemic developed, and more people turned to remote gambling, the online casino coffers filled up again, although they remained emptier than in 2018, for example, when the total grew to £900.6 million.

Online Gambling Problems - Statistics

20. England has about 245,000 problem gamblers.

(UKGC)

Gambling is usually all fun and games until you find yourself filing for bankruptcy and unable to think of anything other than your vice of choice. While this may not be the case for all gamblers, it is for a worrying percentage of them. It is easy to get addicted to something exciting that provides a means of earning more money.

Based on a survey by the Gambling Commission, there are approximately 245,000 problem gamblers in England. What’s more, 380,000 adults in England are classified as moderate-risk gamblers, while 1.2 million adults are low-risk gamblers.

21. 0.6% of male Britons self-identified as problem gamblers in 2020.

(Statista)

Based on online gambling addiction statistics in the UK, there are more males than female problem gamblers. Out of 4,007 respondents above the age of 16, 0.6% of the male participants identified as problem gamblers. The percentage of women that identified as problem gamblers was too small to show on the charts. This means that there were almost no female problem gamblers based on the survey. In previous years, however, only about 0.3%, 0.2%, and 0.1% of women identified as problem gamblers in 2019, 2018, and 2017, respectively. The percentage of men that identified as problem gamblers in those years was 0.9%, 1.1%, and 1%, respectively.

22. The largest percentage of problem gamblers in Great Britain is between the ages of 35 and 44.

(Statista)

On a gambling graph displaying the distribution of problem gambling between UK age groups, the highest bar represents older Millenials and the youngest Gen Xers. People who are 65 years old and above were classified as the least likely to become problem gamblers.

Worldwide Online Gambling Statistics

23. The global online gambling market should reach $92.9 billion in value by 2023.

(Statista)

The global online gambling market has seen tremendous changes in the past few years. Thanks to the effects of COVID-19 on the gambling industry worldwide, this market will thrive in years to come.

Predictions estimate that the value of the global online gambling market should rise by half from its level in 2020. The factors backing this expectation include technological advancements, increasing digitisation, and the fact that more gamblers now trust online payment providers, so long as they’re regulated. What’s more, countries such as the United States have legalised sports betting for the first time, as gambling facts tell us.

24. 26% of the world’s population gambles.

(Casino.org)

While gambling is rarely seen as a good thing, the wonders of the internet have brought it into practically everyone’s home, and the number of people partaking is on a constant uptick. Gambling takes many different forms, from sports betting and online casinos, to national lotteries, which are rarely considered actual gambling.

World gambling statistics from 2017 show that about 26% of the world’s population takes part in some form of gambling. Breaking this down a bit further, nearly two billion people in the world gamble. The number is practically impossible to ascertain accurately, but these estimates are shocking nonetheless.

25. The per capita gambling turnover for Australians amounted to AU$11,525 in 2019.

(Queensland Treasury, gambling.net)

In relation to gambling on an individual scale, Australians are notorious for having a high percentage of gamblers in the population. Statistics on online gambling suggest they spend well over $1,200 per adult on gambling. Considering the fact that Australia has one of the highest gambling rates in the world, it is no surprise that over 80% of adult Aussies gamble.

26. In 2018, over 75% of Macao’s government revenue was from direct gambling taxes.

(Casino.org)

Macao is one of the largest - if not the largest - gambling centres in the world. Although gambling is illegal in most of mainland China, aside from national lotteries, there are about 38 casinos in Macao. The Macao Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) regulates gambling in Macao.