Great Britain’s customer-facing gambling industry generated £17.5 billion in gross gambling yield between April 2025 and March 2026. The Gambling Commission published the official statistics on 17 September 2026.

Online casino, betting and bingo grew faster than land-based sectors. The number of betting shops fell for the 12th consecutive reporting period.

The figures show a market shifting towards remote gambling while the high-street betting network continues to contract.

Online gambling widens its lead

Remote casino, betting and bingo generated £8.3 billion in gross gambling yield during the reporting year. That was an increase of 6.9 percent.

The combined land-based sectors generated £4.9 billion, up 1.1 percent. Remote gambling therefore accounted for about 63 percent of the £13.2 billion non-lottery market.

Online casino games generated £5.7 billion. Slots accounted for £4.8 billion of that total.

  • Remote betting generated £2.4 billion.
  • Football betting accounted for £1.2 billion.
  • Horse racing betting generated £769.3 million.
  • Remote bingo generated £147.8 million.

Excluding reported lottery activity, the regulated customer-facing market generated £13.2 billion. That was 4.7 percent higher than in the previous year.

High-street footprint continues to contract

Great Britain had 5,617 betting shops during the period. The total was down by 208 shops, or 3.6 percent, from the previous year.

The wider number of licensed gambling premises fell by 2 percent to 8,081.

Non-remote betting generated £2.4 billion, a fall of 3.3 percent. Gaming machines accounted for 49.4 percent of that sector’s gross gambling yield.

Machine revenue in betting shops fell by 0.9 percent to £1.2 billion.

Other land-based segments recorded mixed results:

  • Non-remote bingo rose 8.2 percent to £703.8 million.
  • Non-remote casino increased 0.4 percent to £933.9 million.
  • Arcade gross gambling yield rose 10.7 percent to £800.1 million, driven by adult gaming centres.

Market growth did not bring more new online accounts

The Commission recorded 32.4 million new account registrations with remote casino, betting and bingo operators during the year. That was 3 percent fewer than in the previous period.

Active accounts stood at 25.7 million at the end of the final reporting quarter. Funds held in customer accounts fell by 13.9 percent year on year to £886.6 million.

The figures show why gross gambling yield is not a direct measure of participation or household spending. Revenue increased even as new registrations and customer funds declined.

What the figures establish

  • The reporting period ran from April 2025 to March 2026.
  • The Gambling Commission published the statistics on 17 September 2026.
  • The figures cover licensed gambling activity involving customers in Great Britain.
  • The publication is official statistics. It does not introduce a new licence condition, enforcement decision or change in gambling law.

The practical consequence is a widening gap between online and high-street gambling. Operators are generating more revenue from remote services, while the physical betting-shop network continues to shrink.