UKGC Publishes Data Showing How Gambling Behaviour Reacts to Current Environmental Factors in Britain

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has published further data showing how gambling behaviour is reacting to current environmental factors in Great Britain.

The data, sourced from operators, reflects the period between March 2020 and March 2023, inclusive, and covers online and in-person gambling covering Licensed Betting Operators (LBOs) found on Britain’s high streets.

This release compares Quarter four of financial year 2022 to 2023, with Quarter four of 2021 to 2022, looking at how the market has changed in comparative periods over a year.

The latest operator data shows:

• Online total Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) in Quarter 4 (January to March) was £1.3 billion, an increase of 5% from Quarter 4 the previous year. The overall number of total bets and/or spins increased 9% year-on-year, whilst the average monthly active accounts increased 11%.
• With the reporting period covering the Cheltenham festival, real event betting GGY increased 13% year-on-year to £555 million, with total bets and actives also increasing, 19% and 9% respectively for the vertical.
• Slots GGY increased 2% to £552 million between Quarter 4 2021 to 2022 and Quarter 4 2022 to 2023. The number of spins increased 9%, while the average monthly active accounts increased 15% to 3.9 million per month during the same timeframe.
• The number of online slots sessions lasting longer than an hour increased by 10% year-on-year to 8.8 million. The average session length remained at 17 minutes for the fourth quarter in a row, with approximately 6.4% of all sessions lasting more than one hour.
• LBO GGY increased 6% to nearly £585 million in Quarter 4 2022 to 2023, compared to the same quarter last year, while the number of total bets and spins increased 2% to 3.3 billion.