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The Gambling Commission has published market impact data on UK gambling behavior and operator data for the first three quarters of 2025.
The UKGC has shared an update to the industry’s data and user behavior for 2025 so far, up to September of this year and covering online and in-person gambling throughout betting premises on UK high streets. The report tracks various industry trends, while also showing that the UK gambling market has experienced growth overall, rising by 8% when compared to the same period the previous year and reaching £1.42 billion ($1.87 billion).
Zooming in on specific user behavior, the total number of bets and spins increased by 3% year-on-year, reaching 26.1 billion. That’s despite the fact that the average monthly active accounts decreased by 7%, falling to 12 million overall during the same timeframe.
More people are spending more time on slots as well, with a 15% increase in slots sessions lasting more than an hour. That means that sessions of over an hour account for 4.6% of all sessions
Real event betting saw an overall decrease in the UK, however, with the number of bets falling by 3% and the average monthly active accounts decreasing by 14%.
Reading between the lines of the Gambling Commission report
Looking beyond the facts and the figures, the general trend appears to be fewer gamblers, but those that remain are spending more time playing, whether on real event betting or slots and spin games.
That lower number of more active gamblers has actually resulted in more spending, with the online gross gambling yield increasing 8% overall, despite a 7% decrease in active accounts. That highlights the potential for continued increase in spending per player.
However, the drop in players could be concerning for industry leaders already raising concerns about an increasing gambling tax pushing more bettors to unlicensed providers. If the tax goes through, this could shrink the gambling customer base even further.
Featured image: Unsplash
