The UK Gambling Commission has stated that slots were the main factor behind an increase in total online gross gambling yield from UK operators in the fourth quarter of its 2024 to 2025 financial year.
The Commission reported that total online GGY in Q4, covering approximately 80% of the online gambling market, rose by 7% year-over-year to £1.45bn.
Data released by the UKGC features online and retail betting figures from licensed operators, covering from January 2025 to March 2025 and comparing it to the same period the previous year.
The number of average monthly active accounts and the overall number of total bets and/or spins in the quarter increased in comparison to the same period last year as well.
In total, the number of average monthly active accounts increased by 2% YoY to 13.5 million, while the overall number of total bets and/or spins reached 25.2 billion, up 5%.
As previously mentioned, the UKGC mainly attributed the total online GGY increase to online slots, as the product vertical’s GGY rose by 11% YoY to £689m.
The number of spins during the period was 23.4 billion, up 6% YoY, while the average monthly active accounts reached a new peak of 4.5 million per month, a 6% increase as well.
Declines in the number of spins per session and the GGY per session were reported by the UKGC. The number of spins per session dropped from 143 to 136 YoY, whilst the GGY per session decreased from £4.03 to £4.01.
The Commission noted that “historical data has been corrected to take account for the correct categorisation of a game, with the product moving from the casino vertical to the slots vertical”.
For online real event betting, the UKGC stated that GGY rose by 5% YoY in Q4 to £596m, driven by “bookmaker friendly results at this year’s Cheltenham festival”. The number of bets and the average monthly active accounts both saw declines, dropping by 1% and 2% YoY, respectively.
Regarding online safer gambling indicators, the Commission shared that there was an increase in the number of online slots sessions lasting longer than an hour, rising by 5% YoY to 10.1 million.
The number of total sessions increased as well, up 11% YoY to 172 million, with approximately 6% of all sessions lasting over one hour, while the average session lasted 17 minutes, both consistent with the same quarter the previous year.
Customer interactions during the quarter reached a new peak, after rising by 33% YoY to 3.9 million, with most interactions remaining automated in nature. The UKGC stated that direct interactions increased by 53%, but added that some operators “refined their markers of harms algorithms” in Q3 2024-25, resulting in a higher number of interactions.
For Q4 retail wagering, covering approximately 85% of the retail betting market, the Commission reported that GGY decreased by 3% YoY to £554m, with the number of total bets/spins also declining by 5% to 3.1 billion.
Over the counter bets dropped by 6% to 129 million, but GGY was consistent at £152m. Self-service betting terminal wagers rose by 2% to 40.5 million, but its GGY declined by 1% to £125m.
Machine GGY stood at £276m, a 5% YoY decrease. The average spend per session rose by 3p to £12.19, while the average number of spins per machine session was consistent at 130 spins, as it has been for the past five quarters.
As for offline safer gambling indicators, the UKGC stated that 2.71% of machine sessions lasted more than one hour, up slightly on 2.47% from the same period the previous year.
