The UK gambling industry: Slots revenue on the rise
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Gambling is very popular amongst the British, and the latest figures reveal that it shows no signs of fading into obscurity any time soon. The UK Gambling Commission, which recently appointed seven new commissioners, published its latest report, from July to September 2023, which showed that the online gross gambling yield (GGY) reached a staggering £1.2 billion.
The GGY increased nearly across the board, with online numbers up by 0.6% from the previous year, slots revenue having increased by 8%, and only sports betting having decreased slightly, by 5% year-on-year. The number of active accounts also went down by 0.2%, which is minimal. The total spins and bets for online gambling, which is mostly accumulated from online casino games, increased by 10% year-on-year, and the active accounts for these games went up by 7%. The total yield from slots hit £589 million, and the number of active accounts per month went up by 11% to 3.8 million. More people than ever before have been signing up to partake in various forms of online gambling, be it slot machines or otherwise.
The continuing rise of online gambling in the UK has brought with it many benefits. For one, the economic boost that an increased number of gaming operators and customers has provided is considerable. As of 2023, the online sector of the gambling industry now makes up approximately 40% of total revenue. This is thanks to the number of slot machine and online casino games now available as apps and websites. Online slot machines are ideal for many people thanks to their convenience and accessibility. Rather than travelling to a land-based casino, users can play from anywhere and deposit and withdraw cash money almost instantly.
The revenue does not include that from non-gamstop sites, which are gambling operators that do not have to comply with gamstop regulations, and are typically licensed outside of the UK. The best non-gamstop casinos can be found on round-ups, such as this list from cryptonews.com, which outlines the best options for those who do not want to partake in the self exclusion scheme. Anybody who signs up to gamstop will be unable to play at any participating casinos for an amount of time (decided on an individual basis). Lots of people do not want to impose these limitations on themselves, so will choose non-gamstop casinos instead.
The fact that slot machines have become more commonplace in the UK marks a huge comeback for the gambling industry, which suffered huge setbacks during the pandemic in 2020 due to shop closures and lockdown rules. During this period of time, gamblers had to turn online to play slot machines or online casino games, and the preference seems to have stuck! The Gambling Commission report showed that the gaming and betting industry revenue reached a total of £15.1 billion over the years, including the National Lottery, which is a clear indicator of just how popular the pastime is now.
Please play responsibly. For more information and advice visit https://www.begambleaware.org
