UKGC Report Shows Gambling Activity Going Up Slightly

A latest report by the UK Gambling Commission shows a slight increase in gambling activities. Revenue increase is also observed based on numbers from the most recent report.

Updated UKGC Report Suggests Gambling Activity Increase

The UK Gambling Commission released its latest report regarding gambling customer activity during the lockdown. According to the report, the increase is marked in terms of revenue and the number of customers betting on sports when comparing results from April and May. The report is based on data which was collected by YouGov and the Gambling Commission. The latest report shows that 68.2% of the people interviewed until June 17 have not gambled in the last four weeks. When comparing this number to the results from May, we observe a decrease as previously 70.3% of the responders said they haven’t gambled in the last four weeks.

Some 1.1% of the responders admitted that they had increased gambling whereas 1.7% admitted that they increased the money spent on gambling. There are also 0.4% of the responders who said that they gambled for the first time. On the other hand, 2.1% of the responders admitted to have stopped gambling and 3.6% admitted that they decreased their spending for gambling. Another 3.6% of responders said that they increased the time which they are spending gambling.

GGY Marked 15.5% Increase When Comparing April to May Data

The Gambling Commission noted that the survey data features about 80% of the UK online gaming market. Looking at that number, we observe a 15.5% increase in gross gaming yield (GGY) excluding the payouts. May’s numbers show some £399.6 million GGY raised revenue. Revenue raised by slot games marked a 9% increase to £184.3 million. Other casino games also enjoyed an increase of 1.2%, which is further £77.9 million in revenue.

Comparing the results month-over-month, the betting accounted for a higher part of that revenue £101.4 million. This marks a 63.3% increase in betting. On the other hand, esports betting marked a 36% increase in revenue, raising £4.6 million. Looking back at March, this revenue was down to £1.5 million so here we observe a drastic increase.

Focusing on poker and other virtual casino games, we observe a decrease in GGY revenue. Back in April poker alone generated £20.1 million and other virtual casino games raised some £12.8 million. However, numbers from May show 8.6% decrease in poker revenue to £18.3 million and 12.8% decrease in revenue by other games to £11.3 million.

Less Players Online and Decrease in National Lottery Tickets Sold

Looking at online play, April’s results showed some 2.3 million active users spending more than one hour of gambling. Comparing this to results to May, we observe a decrease as 2.1 million users played within that period. On the other hand, 22 minutes remains the average play session length for both April and May.

Results from the latest poll also show a decrease in the percentage of people who purchased National Lottery tickets. April’s results showed some 22.7% of the responders admitting they purchased tickets, while in the most recent report this number decreased to 22.3%.