There are few industries in the United Kingdom with as long and complex a history as gambling. While informal gambling has presumably been around for thousands of years, one of the earliest instances of regulated gambling came in the 16th century, when Elizabeth I organized a state lottery as an alternative to levying a new tax. In the five centuries since, the UK’s gambling sector has evolved into one of the
, regularly recording the highest gross gaming revenue (GGR) on the continent. In 2023, the British gambling industry’s GGR totaled 18.7 billion U.S. dollars.
What is the most popular form of gambling in the UK?
In contrast to the United States, where certain forms of gambling are illegal in some states, gambling regulations in the UK are relatively lax. The gambling type that made up the
largest share of the GGR generated in the British gambling industry in 2023 was online casino games. However, when the British public was
polled on participation in different gambling activities in early 2024, National Lottery draws emerged as the form of gambling with the highest share of participants. In total, 48 percent of British adults said they played the National Lottery, while only three percent said they played casino games. Meanwhile, the second most played gambling type was scratchcards.
How many gambling establishments are there in the UK?
As of 2023, the
number of gambling establishments in Great Britain totaled over 8,000. The majority of these were betting shops, totaling around 6,000. Despite being the most numerous type of gambling establishment, physical betting shops have been on the decline since 2014, when there were over 9,000. The GGR of the British betting sector was also lower in the 2022/23 fiscal year than ten years prior, having sunk by 22.5 percent. However, the online gambling sector has grown in the same period, with the
number of active online gambling customer accounts in Great Britain going from 16.53 million in 2012/13 to 36.43 million in 2022/23.
How many problem gamblers are there in the UK?
With the rise of online gambling, some see the increasing ease of access for consumers as facilitating problem gambling. As of November 2023, the
share of gamblers who had sought medical and professional help for gambling addiction in the past year totaled 15 percent. Meanwhile,
problem gambling among younger age groups was particularly pronounced, with over 10 percent of British gamblers aged between 25 and 44 years old being assigned a Problem Gambling Severity Index score of one or two. In response to this, the Gambling Commission, which is the main regulator of gambling in Great Britain, has introduced a series of new laws to protect consumers from the potentially disastrous consequences of problem gambling. However, only time will tell how effective these measures may prove to be.
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