The UK Gambling Commission’s annual industry statistics for FY2024-25 place the total gross gambling yield of the Great Britain market at £16.8bn, up 7.3% year-on-year. Two quarters of the new FY2025-26 reporting cycle are now available, covering April to September 2025. Combined with HMRC’s gambling duties breakdown and SemRush monthly traffic estimates for the top 20 UK-facing operators, the picture of a market in structural transition becomes clear: remote channels continue to outgrow land-based operations, the upcoming April 2026 duty changes will materially reshape operator economics, and web traffic data reveals significant competitive shifts beneath the aggregate revenue figures.
How the UKGC Reports Gambling Data
The UK Gambling Commission operates on a fiscal year running from April to March, which means its reporting cycle does not align with the calendar year. The FY2024-25 annual report covers April 2024 to March 2025 and was published in November 2025. Separately, the UKGC introduced a new quarterly reporting series in late 2025, providing more granular and timely data. Two quarterly reports for the current fiscal year (FY2025-26) have been published to date: Q1, covering April to June 2025, and Q2, covering July to September 2025. Q3 (October to December 2025) data has been released separately but is not the primary focus of this analysis.
It is worth clarifying the key metric used in UKGC reporting. Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) is the statutory reporting term used by the Commission and is defined as the total amount retained by licensed gambling operators after paying out prizes and winnings, but before any operating costs or taxes are deducted. The commercial equivalent, Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR), is used interchangeably across operator financial reports and industry forecasts. The two are functionally equivalent: both represent the net revenue that flows to the operator from the act of gambling. Where this differs from Net Gaming Revenue (NGR) is that NGR is calculated after the deduction of bonuses, free bets, and promotional credits, which can significantly reduce the headline figure for operators with aggressive acquisition strategies.
Based on the quarterly trajectory visible in Q1 and Q2 FY2025-26, and extrapolating from the FY2024-25 annual total, our estimate for total remote gambling GGR in calendar year 2025 is approximately £10bn. This estimate applies to the Remote Casino, Betting and Bingo sector only, excluding lotteries and land-based operations, and is subject to revision when Q3 and Q4 data are published. The remote sector grew at 13.1% in FY2024-25 and the first two quarters of FY2025-26 show continued year-on-year gains despite the introduction of online slots stake limits in April 2025.
Annual FY2024-25: The Full Market Picture
The UKGC’s annual report for the period April 2024 to March 2025 confirmed total GGY of £16.8bn, of which £12.6bn came from sources excluding lotteries. This was the first time the GB market crossed the £16bn threshold on a total basis. Remote channels accounted for 46% of the market, with the Remote Casino, Betting and Bingo sector generating £7.8bn, a 13.1% increase on FY2023-24. Land-based sectors contributed £4.8bn, up 3.6%, and lotteries accounted for the remaining £4.2bn.
The full-year breakdown across all segments is set out below.
| Segment | GGY FY2024-25 | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| Remote Casino, Betting and Bingo (RCBB) | £7.8bn | +13.1% |
| — of which: Online Casino Games | £5.0bn | +14.9% |
| — of which: Online Slots | £4.2bn | n/a (sub-category) |
| — of which: Remote Betting | £2.6bn | +10.9% |
| — of which: Remote Bingo | £165.6m | -1.0% |
| Non-Remote Betting | £2.5bn | +0.7% |
| — of which: Machines (B2 FOBTs etc.) | £1.2bn | -2.2% |
| Non-Remote Casino | £933.8m | +7.9% |
| — of which: Casino Games | £702.4m | n/a |
| — of which: Casino Machines | £231.5m | n/a |
| Non-Remote Bingo | £650.4m | +3.5% |
| Arcades | £723.3m | +9.0% |
| Lotteries (National + Society) | ~£4.2bn | +0.8% (National Lottery ticket sales) |
| Total GGY (excl. lotteries) | £12.6bn | +9.3% |
| Total GGY (incl. lotteries) | £16.8bn | +7.3% |
The structural story embedded in these figures is consistent: online casino is carrying the growth. At £5.0bn, the remote casino segment alone represented 39.7% of the entire non-lottery GGY for the year. Slots accounted for 83.5% of that. Remote betting at £2.6bn showed solid momentum, with football generating £1.3bn and horse racing £766.7m. Land-based betting shops, by contrast, saw machines revenue fall 2.2% to £1.2bn, with the estate declining for the eleventh consecutive reporting period to 5,825 shops nationally.
FY2025-26 in Progress: Q1 and Q2 Data
The first quarter of FY2025-26 (April to June 2025) produced an online GGY of £1.49bn, a 2% increase on the same period in FY2024-25. Slots GGY reached £745m, up 14% year-on-year, with the number of total online bets and spins rising 6% to 26.1 billion. Notably, Q1 was the first quarter in which online slots maximum stake limits were in place for the full three-month period: £2 per spin for adults aged 18 to 24, and £5 for all others. Despite early industry concerns about the revenue impact of the limits, both GGY and total spins set new quarterly records in Q1. Real event betting GGY came in at £570m, down 9% year-on-year, with a 16% fall in active accounts contributing to the decline.
The second quarter (July to September 2025) produced total GGY of £4.3bn including lotteries, a 6.6% increase on Q2 FY2024-25. Online GGY was £1.42bn, up 8% year-on-year. Slots GGY reached £747m, up 9%, with 24.4 billion spins recorded, again a consecutive quarterly record. Real event betting GGY rose to £508m, up 12%, recovering from the Q1 dip. Betting premises GGY fell to £592m, down from prior-year levels, continuing the structural trend away from high street retail.
| Period | Total GGY (incl. lotteries) | Online GGY (RCBB) | Slots GGY | YoY Online Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 FY2025-26 (Apr–Jun 2025) | £3.3bn | £1.49bn | £745m | +2% |
| Q2 FY2025-26 (Jul–Sep 2025) | £4.3bn | £1.42bn | £747m | +8% |
| H1 FY2025-26 combined | £7.6bn | £2.91bn | £1.49bn | ~+5% blended |
The Q1 and Q2 figures collectively represent a market generating online GGY at an annualised run-rate above £5.5bn for the remote segment alone, ahead of FY2024-25’s £5.0bn online casino total. This trajectory, if sustained across the second half of the fiscal year, would support a full-year RCBB total above £8bn, consistent with our £10bn remote GGR estimate for calendar 2025 when accounting for the overlap between the UKGC fiscal year and the calendar year.
The Tax Framework: Duties Collected and What Changes in April 2026
UK gambling is subject to several distinct excise duties, administered by HMRC, each applying to different sectors of the market. The structure deliberately separates online and land-based operations in some areas, and treats them identically in others. Understanding where the tax burden falls by channel matters increasingly for operators modelling the impact of the April 2026 changes.
The table below sets out the current duty framework with confirmed FY2024-25 receipts where available from HMRC’s UK Betting and Gaming Statistics publication.
| Duty | Channel | Current Rate | Rate from April 2026 | FY2024-25 Receipts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) | Online (casino, bingo) | 21% | 40% | £1.16bn |
| General Betting Duty (GBD) | Online & in-person betting | 15% (all) | 15% in-person; 25% remote (from April 2027) | £714m |
| Machine Games Duty (MGD) | Land-based (machines in premises) | 20% standard / 25% higher rate | Unchanged | ~£580m (est.) |
| Bingo Duty | Land-based bingo halls | 10% | Abolished | £25m |
| Gaming Duty | Land-based casinos | Graduated 15%–50% | Frozen 2026-27 | Not separately confirmed |
| Lottery Duty | National Lottery | 12% | Unchanged | £932m |
| Pool Betting Duty (PBD) | Online & in-person pools | 15% | Unchanged | ~£7m |
The confirmed receipts from the four largest duties total approximately £2.83bn for FY2024-25: RGD at £1.16bn, GBD at £714m, Lottery Duty at £932m, and Bingo Duty at £25m. Adding estimated MGD receipts of approximately £580m based on partial FY2025-26 data brings the total to approximately £3.4bn, consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast of £4bn in total betting and gaming duty receipts for FY2025-26, a figure that includes some growth in RGD from the Q1 and Q2 trends.
Remote Gaming Duty stands as the single largest individual component of gambling tax revenue, and its near-doubling from 21% to 40% from April 2026 is the most consequential fiscal change the sector has faced in the modern regulatory era. At a static calculation based on current run-rates, the annual RGD liability on the online casino sector would rise from approximately £1.16bn to £2.2bn, a step-change of over £1bn per year. The government has acknowledged that behavioural responses will reduce the net yield below the static figure; the Office for Budget Responsibility projects around £810m in additional annual receipts by 2026-27, rising to £1.16bn by 2030-31 as the remote betting rate increase also takes effect.
Flutter Entertainment has quantified its group exposure at approximately £540m annually, Entain at £200m, and Evoke at around £40m for its digital operations. The land-based estate is largely insulated from the RGD increase, though the abolition of Bingo Duty will provide meaningful relief to bingo hall operators. MGD rates remain unchanged, which is a partial positive for the retail betting shop sector, where machines already account for 48.2% of non-remote betting GGY.
For further context on how these changes are being absorbed by individual operators, see our earlier analysis of the UK’s confirmed gambling tax increases and the Flutter Entertainment £540m impact assessment.
UK Gambling Operator Web Traffic: SemRush Monthly Estimates
Revenue data from the UKGC captures what operators retain from gambling activity. Web traffic data provides a complementary, commercially-oriented view of where UK consumers are spending their time online. The figures below are drawn from SemRush traffic estimates and represent monthly website visit volumes to the top UK-facing gambling domains. These are estimated figures derived from panel-based and algorithmic modelling, not verified operator data, and should be interpreted as indicative of relative scale and directional trends rather than precise active user counts. Monthly visits do not directly equate to unique active players, as a single user may visit a site multiple times in a month, but the data provides a reasonable approximation of consumer engagement and brand reach across the licensed UK market.
| Domain | Monthly Visits | Mobile Share | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| national-lottery.co.uk | 17,830,000 | 69.73% | +9.25% |
| bet365.com | 11,990,000 | 60.34% | -9.80% |
| paddypower.com | 9,310,000 | 70.27% | +2.93% |
| williamhill.com | 9,090,000 | 73.78% | -11.48% |
| ladbrokes.com | 8,680,000 | 72.39% | +7.11% |
| skybet.com | 8,490,000 | 69.37% | -16.56% |
| skyvegas.com | 7,870,000 | 87.90% | +40.15% |
| betfair.com | 7,850,000 | 56.67% | -5.16% |
| coral.co.uk | 7,540,000 | 73.71% | +1.39% |
| postcodelottery.co.uk | 5,830,000 | 89.96% | +114.03% |
| betfred.com | 4,480,000 | 74.61% | -16.91% |
| sportinglife.com | 3,870,000 | 43.91% | -36.84% |
| unibet.co.uk | 3,800,000 | 86.10% | -19.23% |
| racingpost.com | 3,760,000 | 45.50% | -18.39% |
| galabingo.com | 3,390,000 | 82.42% | +30.04% |
| mrq.com | 3,250,000 | 88.71% | +193.51% |
| foxybingo.com | 3,190,000 | 81.29% | +34.61% |
| 32red.com | 2,910,000 | 90.92% | +176.61% |
| tombola.co.uk | 2,730,000 | 76.18% | -1.26% |
| midnite.com | 2,200,000 | 76.59% | +364.47% |
Source: SemRush (monthly traffic estimates, latest available period)
What the Traffic Data Reveals
The National Lottery at 17.83 million monthly visits sits well above the field, reflecting its breadth as both a lottery operator and a destination visited regularly by non-gambling consumers. Among commercial gambling operators, bet365 leads with 11.99 million visits, though its 9.8% year-on-year decline is notable for the market leader, consistent with the broader pattern of established sportsbook brands losing ground. William Hill, now under Evoke’s ownership, is down 11.48%, and Sky Bet has fallen 16.56%, the sharpest decline among the major sportsbook operators in this dataset. Betfred has fallen 16.91%.
The most significant traffic growth stories in this set are dominated by casino-led brands. Midnite, the UK-based challenger sportsbook that raised £35m in a Series C round in January 2026, shows 364.47% year-on-year traffic growth, the highest in the dataset. This is partially attributable to a low base, but the absolute figure of 2.2 million monthly visits positions it as a material presence in the UK online betting market at a stage when it remains pre-profitability. MrQ, a no-wagering requirements casino operator, is up 193.51% to 3.25 million monthly visits, and 32Red is up 176.61% to 2.91 million. Both are in the no-wagering or simplified bonus segment that has grown at the expense of traditional promotional models.
Sky Vegas at 7.87 million monthly visits, up 40.15% year-on-year, is the standout result among the established Flutter-owned brands. The divergence between Sky Vegas (growing) and Sky Bet (declining 16.56%) is significant: it suggests the Flutter group is managing a product-level shift toward casino within its Sky-branded UK estate, consistent with the structural pattern visible in the UKGC market data where remote casino GGY grew at 14.9% in FY2024-25 while betting growth was more moderate.
Postcodelottery.co.uk is the other major outlier, with 114% year-on-year traffic growth to 5.83 million monthly visits. This growth reflects increased marketing activity and a broader shift toward draw-based games and prize mechanics that appeal to a demographic less engaged with traditional sports betting.
Mobile share across the dataset is uniformly high. Sixteen of the twenty domains show mobile traffic above 70%. Betfair at 56.67% and Sportinglife.com at 43.91% are the exceptions; both serve audiences with a higher proportion of desktop-active users, reflecting the more analytical, data-intensive nature of exchange betting and racing media consumption. The bingo and casual gaming brands cluster at the top of the mobile share range: 32Red at 90.92%, postcodelottery.co.uk at 89.96%, and MrQ at 88.71%, consistent with their primarily smartphone-native user bases.
The declining traffic for information-led destinations such as Sporting Life (-36.84%) and Racing Post (-18.39%) is notable in the context of the UKGC’s own data showing a 7% year-on-year decline in active betting accounts for Q1 FY2025-26. The racing and sports media sector that historically served as a top-of-funnel for sports betting is seeing reduced engagement, which will be a structural headwind for operators whose acquisition strategy relies on SEO and racing media partnerships.
Unibet’s 19.23% traffic decline, covering the same period in which its parent Kindred was absorbed by Betsson, reflects both the brand repositioning underway and the product rationalisation following Unibet’s exit from the Italian market. The UK operation remains a meaningful asset, but the traffic trend suggests a brand that is losing visibility in a competitive SEO environment.
What the Combined Picture Signals for 2026
The UKGC data and the traffic estimates together point in the same direction. Remote casino is the structural growth engine of the UK market, both in GGY terms and in consumer engagement. The brands gaining traffic share are predominantly casino-focused or hybrid operators with strong mobile casino products. Sportsbook-led operators are losing ground on both metrics: Sky Bet, William Hill, Betfred, Unibet, and Betfair all show declining year-on-year traffic, while the UKGC’s real event betting GGY dipped in Q1 FY2025-26 before recovering in Q2.
Against this backdrop, the April 2026 RGD increase from 21% to 40% is arriving at a moment of structural momentum for online casino, rather than during a period of contraction. The challenge for operators is managing the margin compression while maintaining the product quality and promotional activity that is driving consumer engagement. Those that reduce bonuses aggressively in response to the higher duty rate risk accelerating the traffic declines already visible among some incumbents. The operators gaining ground, by contrast, are those that have built differentiated product models, mobile-first experiences, and efficient customer acquisition strategies that are less dependent on high bonus spend. The traffic data, read alongside the UKGC’s quarterly statistics, suggests that structural market share is shifting faster than the aggregate GGY figures imply.
For context on how the UKGC’s Great Britain data compares to the broader European market, see our coverage of Europe’s £123.4bn GGR market in 2024. The latest on UK operator responses to the duty increases can be found in our reporting on Entain’s £200m annual impact estimate.
Source: UK Gambling Commission; HMRC UK Betting and Gaming Statistics; SemRush
