UKGC Report Major % Spike in Gambling Activities 2020-2022
UKGC Report on Increasing GGY, Total Bets, and Spins: Despite Macroeconomic Concerns
The UKGC has recently updated new statistics which reflect on how gambling behavior among punters is reacting to the current environmental factors across the UK. The report analyzes the duration between March 2020 to June 2022 covering both brick-and-mortar and online casinos from Licensed Betting Operators or LBOs. The analysis was based on factors like the GGY, the amount of accounts that increased during the widespread macroeconomic concerns, bets, and spins. The latest update regarding this also contains casino operator data till June 2022. The UKGC has made quarterly comparisons between Q1 of 2022-2023 and Q4 of 2021-2022. During the Q1 of 2022-2023, the online GGY or Gross Gambling Yield is estimated at 1.2 billion GBP which showed an increase of 1% compared to Q4 of 2021-2022. The overall number of spins/bets had increased by 5% as well. This trend is more prevalent among gamblers looking for no-limit, no-restriction games, reviewed on popular sites such as Betting.co.uk.
Gross Gambling Yield of Slots
The GGY of slots has increased up to 4% or GBP 565 million between the period of Q4 in 2021 and Q1 in 2022. The number of spins has escalated to 5% or 18.7 billion whereas the approximate monthly active user accounts have increased by 4% or 3.6 million a month. The number of online slot sessions over 1 hour of usage has increased by 5% or to 8.4 million between Q4 and Q1. An average slot session lasts around 17 minutes. The GGY for licensed betting operators has increased by 6% or GBP 584 million during Q4 and Q1. The number of total spins and bets has also increased to 3.3 billion or by 3%.
What Does UKGC Say About This?
The UKGC stated in a press release that they continue to impose strict vigilance from operators as punters suffer from a wide range of impacts due to the pandemic situation as well as the macroeconomic environment. Many punters continue to feel vulnerable due to Covid-19 which has imposed uncertainty about financial and personal circumstances. With the festive season, gamblers are also inclined towards sport betting options including FPL Live matches, which are a current craze. The UKGC also mentioned that they expect operators to obey the guidelines imposed since the lockdown. The operator has also encouraged operators to take extensive care when onboarding new registrants and keeping a check over affordability checks. The UKGC continued to track the market-related risks by analyzing the impact of the strict guidance issued by the betting operators. The UKGC is ready to take further steps toward permanently strengthening the regulatory requirements imposed. It has also brought changes to the License Conditions, Remote Technical Standards, and Codes of Practice for protecting the bettors and monitoring the operators under the UKGC. Compliance assessments are also taking place.
Conclusion
The key motive of the UKGC is to curb the issue of problem gambling within the UK. As per July 2022 reports, the problem gambling rates have been exceptionally low at 0.2% during Q1 of 2022 down from a 0.4% during 2021. The survey also focuses on how punters aged between 16-24 are most vulnerable to gambling addictions at 0.8%. The UKGC will continue to impose extra vigilance on betting operators in the UK in order to understand other impacts due to the macroeconomic environment. More punters will start feeling vulnerable about their financial or personal circumstances.
