Gambling in the UK: Covid-19 cost the sector £1bn in ecomomic output

The DCMS has updated its estimate based on the UK gambling sector’s economic contribution and productivity.

UK.- The UK government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport has estimated that the Covid-19 pandemic cost the country’s gambling sector £1bn in lost economic output. The revised estimate is based on updated data tracking the sector’s activity from 2011 to 2021.

The DCMS measures economic output through Gross Value Added (GVA) output, employment, earnings and productivity. However, it said that there are technical limitations to its figures.

The department estimated that the gross value added (GVA) for all of its sectors apart from civil society and tourism was £179.6bn in 2022. That’s a drop of 9.7 per cent from 2019. The gambling sector grew at a rate of 25 per cent from 2011 to 2019, surpassing general growth of 15.9 per cent. However, GVA fell by £1bn to £7.7bn in 2020 due to the closure of retail venues and the cancellation of sports events.

The DCMS also noted the impact of the rise in online gambling on the land-based sector. It noted that this had also had an impact on employment in the sector. It said that there was a higher rate of employment in the gambling sector in the East of England and West Midlands. Output per filled job was estimated at £89,200 in 2019, which made the gambling sector the third-highest productive among all DCMS sectors.

British Gambling Commission: new members join safer gambling board

Meanwhile, the British Gambling Commission has announced that two new members have joined its Advisory Board for Safer Gambling (ABSG). The academic expert appointments are Dr Virve Marionneau and Dr Spencer Murch.

Marionneau has a background in sociology and is director of the Centre for Research on Addiction, Control and Government at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She conducts research into gambling-related matters, including regulation, online gambling and the qualitative investigation of gambling experiences and harms.

Murch is a cognitive psychologist and an AGRI postdoctoral fellow at the University of Calgary, Canada. His work includes research into cognitive behavioural practices and the implementation of AI for health.