Just How Big is the UK’s Casino Market?

When thinking about the world’s largest gambling markets, the United Kingdom will always be considered near the very top of the list.

Indeed, the country has a history regarding wagering, with it being an incredibly popular pastime for many throughout time, and it does not appear that there has been any slowing down in recent years. According to recent figures, it had been revealed that around 43% of the adult population had participated in gambling activities over a period of four weeks, thus highlighting just how big the market is within the UK.

Another factor that shows just how big the UK’s casino market is would be the figure that was found to be the total gross gambling yield, with this figure standing at an impressive £14.1bn for the time between Apr 2019 to Mar 2020.

This article thought it would look at the casino scene specifically, though, and take a detailed look at what the figures are highlighting in regard to remote and non-remote establishments to see if we could get a greater understanding of how big the UK’s casino market truly is.

Remote casinos

Starting with the remote casinos, it is clear that many players have started to use platforms such as the Casumo casino to enjoy one of their favourite pastimes, as according to the data that has been collected, it shows an increase of 22.5% had been experienced from the previous year. This totaled £4,016M in regard to GGY, which was up from £3,279M in the same period a year before. This would suggest that more and more have turned to virtual platforms in the last 12 months, although data has shown that there has been a continued amount of growth over the last five years or so.

Interestingly, the research did also show that slots were the favoured game to play, with 72.5% of the revenue coming from these games, whilst roulette came in second with 13.2% ahead of others and blackjack.

Indeed, it is perhaps hardly a surprise that remote casinos are on the rise and proving to be popular with gamblers, especially as they provide a level of convenience and accessibility that non-remote casinos simply cannot offer.

Non-remote casinos

In contrast, there has been a steady decrease in regard to the numbers that non-remote casinos have provided, although there are a number of external factors that will have contributed to the decline in the period that was researched.

Nonetheless, according to the report, it was found that there had been a decrease of -3.9% on GGY from the previous year, with it having dropped from £1,059M to £1,018M; a decrease of £41.2M.

Interestingly, it was also found there were decreases in GGY for casino games by £38.7m (-4.6%) and machines by £2.6m (-1.2%). Casino games did account for 79% of the revenue, though, whereas machines accounted for the other 21%, thus clearly highlighting that a traditional casino would typically be visited for the iconic tables.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that there were contrasting findings for the casino industry, it remains clear that the UK’s casino market is still a rather huge market and is perhaps one of the biggest in the world.

Indeed, many have clearly started to turn to iGaming services such as online platforms in order to enjoy one of their favourite pastimes and this is hardly a surprise given what has happened in recent years, but whilst there has been a decline in traditional casinos, they still remain a rather valuable market.