Online betting and gambling are one industry which is witnessing a decent growth in the UK market. In last few years, there has been a considerable growth in the UK online casino and gambling industry and the recent figures truly indicate it. The pastime of placing a bet in the United Kingdom has been alive and with the strong numbers indicating all manner of betting activity going strong in this regulated market. Not only this industry provides a diversion for millions but also employs many people. As per a recent government report, the gambling industry in the UK employs over 104,800 people during the periods April 2014 and March 2015. This number excludes the National Lottery and includes the Society Lotteries.
As per the study reports of purveyors over a period where 8,819 betting shops were generating a gross gambling yield(GGY) – the amount retained by the operators after the payment of winnings but before the deduction of costs of operation – of £3,249m. Out of this amount £1,665m was generated through 34,865 gaming machines in these betting shops. Turnover – sales, before winnings or expenses were deducted, was an astounding £9,590m.
As per the June 2016 UKGC report, there are 719 online casino licenses which were held by 472 online casino operators which include names like 888casino.com as of September 2015. Remote gambling was broken down into two sections, those numbers occurring before implementation of the Gambling Act and those after. This means that we’ll have to wait for few months to see more comprehensive results for the comparison of both the sectors.
Even 148 land casinos saw an overall non-remote turnover of £7,317m. This turnover comes from a play on some 2,822 machines. Overall nearly 21 million customer visits were recorded. Bingo parlours saw £1, 115m in turnover with a GGY of £662m. More data with current numbers and trends with full data ending on March 2016 show surprising results in regards to demographic participation in certain areas. As per reports greatest volume of activity is in National Lottery and there was about only 1 percent of participation in online slots and instant win games. Even the age group most likely to bet were 45-54-year-old at 15% followed by a tie at 13% by 25-34 and 35-44-year-olds. There are many other interesting facts which the data offers overall indicating a healthy growth in the casino and gambling industry.
