UKGC Statistics Show 12.5% Yield Increase for UK Bingo Sector

The release of the latest statistics from the UKGC (United Kingdom Gambling Commission) paints an interesting picture for the UK bingo and gambling industry pre-COVID-19.

The latest report published twice a year (May and November) covers the period between October 2018 – September 2019, before the pandemic hit UK shores.

The UK Gambling Commission's report revealed a small 0.5% decline in the total gross gambling yield (GGY) of the UK's gambling industry from the previous period (April 2018 – March 2019) to £14.3 billion. Once lotteries are excluded, the total gross gambling yield of the UK gambling industry saw a 1.9% decline to £10.5 billion.

Online Casino and Bingo Increase But High Street Betting in Danger

The UKGC report showed that online gambling operations rose by 4.3% from the previous period to £2.1 billion. The GGY of the online UK casino operations increased by 3.9% to £3.2 billion, making it the largest contributor.

Interestingly, the bingo UK scene saw a 12.5% increase in GGY, as online bingo services rose to £198 million.

A stand out of the report is the demise of high-street betting outlets in the UK. The number of high street betting shops – bookies- plunged by 12.1% between October 2018 and September 2019. Just 7315 high street betting shops remained as of September 2019. As BingoDaily reported, William Hill announced in July last year the closure of 700 high street betting shops.

The tight measures imposed upon fixed-odds gambling terminals (FOBTs) meant that the gross gaming yield for gaming machines across the UK, excluding the ones requiring only permission from a local authority, plummeted by 11.8% to £2.5 billion.

Headline Findings From the UKGC Industry Statistics Report

• £14.3bn – Gross Gambling Yield (GGY)[1] of the gambling industry in Great Britain (Oct 2018 – September 2019) (0.5% decrease from Apr 2018 – Mar 2019)
• £10.5bn – GGY of the gambling industry in Great Britain excluding Lottery type gambling (October 2019 – September 2019) (1.9% decrease from April 2018 – March 2019)
• 98,174 – number of employees in the gambling industry in Great Britain (September 2019) (4.4% decrease from March 2019)
• 9,745 – total number of premises in Great Britain (September 2019) (9.6% decrease from March 2019)
• 7,315 – number of betting shops in Great Britain (September 2019) (12.1% decrease from March 2019)
• £2.5bn – GGY for gaming machines in Great Britain (October 2018 – September 2019) (11.8% decrease from April 2018 – March 2019) (excludes those requiring only a local authority permit)
• £624m – GGY for category B2 machines in Great Britain (October 2018 – September 2019) (46.4% decrease from April 2018 – March 2019)
• £1.3bn – GGY for category B3 machines in Great Britain (October 2018 – September 2019) (18.5% increase from April 2018 – March 2019)
• £2.1bn – GGY for remote betting (October 2018 – September 2019 (4.3% increase from April 2018 – March 2019)
• £198m – GGY for the remote bingo (October 2018 – September 2019) (12.5% increase from Apr 2018 – March 2019)
• £3.2bn – GGY for remote casino (October 2018 – September 2019) (3.9% increase from Apr 2018 – March 2019)
• £1.1bn – GGY for land-based casinos in Great Britain (October 2018 – September 2019) (0.6% decrease from April 2018 – March 2019)
• £1.6bn – contributions to good causes from The National Lottery (October 2018 – September 2019) (6.5% increase from April 2018 – March 2019)
• £345m – contributions to good causes from large society lotteries (October 2018 – September 2019) (3.7% increase from April 2018- March 2019)

The full UKGC report can be found here.