UKGC’s report shows online sector’s growth

The report from the UKGC showed growth in the online sector and a decrease in retail.

UK.- The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) published on Thursday its first industry statistic report from 2019. The UKGC, which publishes these reports twice a year, provided details about online gambling services and retail from October 2017 to September 2018.

Gorse gambling yield (GGY) for the online gambling sector increased 2.9% to €6.3 billion in the 12 months to September 2018. This is despite total GGY decreasing 0.4% from April 2017 to March 2018 to €16.4 billion. The online sector held 39% of the market share in that period, which represents a 1.2% increase.

On the other hand, the biannual report showed that the retail industry continues to suffer in the UK, as it registered a 5.1% decrease in the number of shops in the territory. The number of shops fell to 8423, while arcades and bingo premises decreased by 5.3% and 1.1% respectively. 

These declines are part of the impact that the reduction in FOBTs has had on UK retail shops. The number of employees in the UK decreased by 1.4% to 106,670. This was also expected when the government introduced the FOBTs changes.

Ben Haden, Programme Director for Industry Insight said: “Despite the marginal decline across the wider gambling industry, the online gambling sector continues to grow. Our role as regulator will continue to see us working to raise standards right across the industry.

“Following our comprehensive review of the online gambling sector in 2018, this year we have implemented new rules to strengthen age and ID verification checks and we’ve also been working with partners in financial institutions to develop the role they can play to protect vulnerable consumers. 

“Last month we published the new National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms which has a renewed focus on plans to widen research, take a preventative approach to gambling harms, assess treatment provision, embed a culture of evaluation, and encourage industry to collaborate to make gambling safer.”