The UK Gambling Commission has reported a 12% increase in online total gross gambling yield in the first quarter of the 2024 financial year compared to the same period last year, with new records set in several aspects of the slots dataset.
In addition, slots GGY has risen by 10% year-over-year, real event betting GGY has also grown by 16% when compared to Q1 2023, while new highs were recorded in slots across GGY, spins and average monthly active accounts.
Data on the gambling industry is sourced by the UKGC and covers online and in-person gambling covering licensed betting operators found on Britain’s high streets. The commission has been collecting data from March 2020 up until June 2024 to date.
The commission also noted that it is “currently investigating the categorisation of certain products” and while it could result in some data between verticals changing, it shouldn’t have an impact on the overall totals.
Publishing data for Q1 – April to June – the UKGC declared that online total GGY, covering approximately 80% of the online gambling market, came in at £1.46bn, a 12% increase YoY.
The number of bets and/or spins rose by 11% compared to the same period last year, reaching a new peak for the second consecutive quarter of 24.5 billion. Meanwhile, the average monthly active accounts across all verticals grew by 9%.
The UKGC reported that new highs were recorded across the slots dataset in GGY, spins and average monthly active accounts.
Slots GGY came in at £642m, a 10% increase YoY, with the number of spins rising by 12% as well to 22.4 billion and average monthly active accounts growing by 11% to 4.4 million per month.
The number of online slots sessions lasting longer than an hour rose by 8% to 9.6 million, while the average session length stayed at 17 minutes. Approximately 6% of all sessions lasted more than an hour, which is the lowest percentage recorded in the dataset.
Major sporting events such as UEFA Euro 2024 had a significant impact on real event betting, as Q1 GGY came in at £625m, a 16% increase in comparison to the same period the previous year.
The number of bets for real event betting fell by 7% YoY, while average monthly active accounts rose by 11%.
Across other verticals in terms of GGY, other gaming (including casino) stood at £159.6m, virtual betting came in at £10.3m, esports betting was £4.3m, poker was £14.1m and other was £2m.
As for licensed betting operators, covering approximately 85% of the retail betting market, GGY declined by 1% when compared to Q1 2024 to £582m. The number of total bets and spins fell by 1% as well to 3.2 billion.
Across product per GGY, over-the-counter stood at £168.4m, self-service betting terminals came in at £123.9m and machines came in at £290.1m.
Last month, the UKGC published its first annual Gambling Survey for Great Britain report as the commission aims to “establish a new baseline for understanding gambling behaviour in Britain”.
However, the Betting and Gaming Council recently stated that its members are concerned about the GSGB as they believe its findings may be “unreliable” and overstating gambling participation and gambling-related harm.