UK gambling industry generated £4.5 billion in GGY during Q4 2025, says Gambling Commission

The gambling industry in the UK generated a gross gambling yield (GGY) of £4.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the latest quarterly statistics released by the Gambling Commission.

The timeframe covers October-December of 2025, which the Gambling Commission notes as its third quarter. 

The Gambling Commission, together with the National Centre for Social Research, also published Wave 4 of the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB), covering gambling activity from September 2025 to January 2026. 

GGY laid out

According to the latest figures, total GGY, including all lotteries, reached £4.5 billion, while GGY excluding lotteries stood at £3.3 billion. Remote casino, betting and bingo (RCBB) generated £2.12 billion in GGY, with remote casino alone accounting for £1.49 billion, representing 70% of the RCBB total. 

Land-based sectors, including arcades, betting, bingo and casinos, produced £1.2 billion in GGY, while non-remote betting generated £613 million, accounting for 48.2% of total non-remote GGY. 

The number of licensed gambling premises stood at 8,148, including 5,669 betting shops, and there were 191,325 gaming machines located in licensed premises. 

Meanwhile, the National Lottery contributed £415 million to good causes, while large society lotteries contributed a further £126 million. 

GSGB survey

Fieldwork for the GSGB survey was conducted between 22 September 2025 and 18 January 2026. A total of 22,302 addresses were issued, resulting in 5,203 usable individual responses.

The survey found that 47% of respondents had participated in some form of gambling during the previous four weeks. When lottery-only players were excluded, the participation rate fell to 26%. Online gambling was reported by 37% of respondents, although this dropped to 15% when lottery-only participants were removed from the data. 

Meanwhile, 27% of respondents reported taking part in in-person gambling activities, with the figure decreasing to 17% when excluding those who only played lottery products. 

Gambling participation was highest among middle-aged adults, with 51% of those aged 35-44 reporting gambling activity in the previous four weeks, rising to 54% among those aged 45-54 and peaking at 56% among those aged 55-64. However, when lottery-only players were excluded, participation rates declined significantly in older age groups, with the figure for 55-64-year-olds falling to 25%. 

Younger adults (aged 18-24) reported lower overall gambling participation at 31%, but were more likely to engage with non-lottery gambling products and more frequently cited enjoyment and excitement as reasons for gambling. Men consistently reported higher rates of gambling than women across most categories, with 49% of men participating in any form of gambling compared with 44% of women. 

Online gambling participation was also higher among men, at 41% versus 34% for women, while betting activity showed the largest gender gap, with 13% of men reporting participation compared with 4% of women. 

Industry trends 

The Gambling Commission’s new quarterly data sheds light on seasonal trends and rolling 12-month totals, revealing a sustained dominance of remote gambling activities throughout 2025. 

Aggregate RCBB GGY from January to December reached £5.55 billion, with remote casino making up a significant portion – £1.49 billion alone in the final quarter.

Remote gambling continues as the primary revenue driver. Turnover for remote casino, betting and bingo in Q4 was reported at £39.18 billion, generating £2.12 billion in GGY. Within this, remote betting contributed £599.05m, while remote bingo accounted for £38.66 million.

This matched up with the GSGB results, where online gambling was more common than in-person gambling. About 37% reported online play compared to 27% in person. Live football betting was the most popular live betting format (5% overall; 9% men), followed by live horse racing bets (3% overall; 5% men). 

In contrast, land-based gambling sectors maintained relative stability but lagged behind remote formats in revenue generation. 

Total GGY from adult gaming centres, family entertainment centres, betting shops, bingo halls and casinos reached approximately £1.2 billion during the quarter. Betting shops remain the most prevalent land-based venue, with 5,669 shops and machine-derived GGY of around £300.9 million.

Premises and machines

Across the land-based gambling sector, adult gaming centres accounted for 1,458 premises and 80,181 machines, generating £193.0 million in gross gambling yield (GGY). 

Family entertainment centres operated from 165 premises with approximately 10,069 machines and generated £6.05 million in GGY, although this figure was noted to fluctuate. Betting premises remained the largest venue category, with 5,669 locations and 22,291 machines, producing £613.24 million in GGY. 

Meanwhile, 718 bingo venues housed 74,439 machines and generated £173.06 million in GGY. The non-remote casino sector consisted of 138 venues and 4,345 machines, generating £238.86 million in GGY. 

Lottery sales and charitable contributions

Lotteries continue to contribute significantly to the sector’s overall receipts. Lottery ticket sales in the quarter totalled £295.75 million, with £126.2 million donated to good causes from large society lotteries. The National Lottery separately reported ticket sales reaching £2.02 billion and contributed £415.11 million to good causes for the same period.

In the GSGB survey, Lottery draws remain the most commonly reported gambling activity, with 31% purchasing National Lottery draw tickets in the past four weeks (25% online and 15% in person). When combined with charity lottery draws, 36% reported participation in lottery draws.

Other developments

The Gambling Commission also announced its intentions for an AI-powered marketing sweep that will monitor advertisements and report any deemed unsuitable for under 18s. 

The notice warns operators: “If we identify ads that break the rules, we will require you to amend or remove the ad immediately and, if you fail to comply, we will impose sanctions, which may include referral to the platform hosting the ad and/or the Gambling Commission.” 

Gambling advertisement has been a constant thorn in the Gambling Commission’s side, with MPs recently framing them as a public health issue following a report from an All-Party Parliamentary Group.