Number of UK betting shops falls, per latest Gambling Commission statistics

Gambling Commission (GC) has published its latest statistics for the UK gambling industry, revealing a slight decrease in the number of betting shops in the country.

The number of betting shops in the UK as of March 2016 stands at 8809, a 1.9% decrease from the 8975 operating in March last year.

The number of B2 machines in betting shops fell 0.5% over the same period.

A decrease was also recorded in the number of bingo premises, which fell by 10.1% to 599 between March 2015 and March 2016.

The GC notes that remote gambling in Britain remains “steady”, with its generation of £3.6bn for the period October 2014 to September 2015 representing a 29% market share, which is consistent with the first five months of online data published in November 2015.

The total gross gambling yield of Great Britain’s gambling industry from October 2014 to September 2015 stands at £12.6bn

By way of comparison, a total of £11.2bn was reported to the period April 2014 to March 2015.

GC Programme Director James Green said: “Today we are publishing clear authoritative data on the gambling industry in Great Britain.

“For the first time the figures include almost a full year’s worth of data relating to online gambling operators – the market share of the online betting, bingo and casino sector is 29% and we’ll be interested to see how this changes over time.”

Green also noted changes in the offline sector.

He added: “There has been a reduction in the number of betting shops, arcades and bingo halls in the last two years.

“Market trends and consumer participation research are key to shaping the commission’s regulatory policy to keep gambling in Britain safe for consumers, fair and crime-free.”