Gardner sets out gambling market data and illegal market research at CEO Briefing

The Gambling Commission said Acting Chief Executive Sarah Gardner delivered a speech at the CEO Briefing on 5 November 2026, covering the Gambling Act Review, the National Lottery and work to tackle illegal gambling.

The Commission said the gambling sector in Great Britain grew to £17.5 billion by Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) at the end of the last financial year, a rise of 4.4%. It said remote casino, betting and bingo grew by 6.9% year on year to £8.3 billion by GGY, with online casino driving most of the overall growth, up £736 million compared with a £728 million increase across the whole sector.

Land-based gambling GGY rose by 1.1% in 2025/26, the Commission said, with Adult Gaming Centres up 11% by GGY, non-remote betting down, casino GGY showing negligible growth and non-remote bingo up 8%. It said machine gaming remains around £100 million down compared with before the B2 machine stake cut. Participation in gambling in the past four weeks was stable at 47% for 2025, according to the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB), while the Commission said the lotteries sector saw stable participation but increasing competition from prize draws, which had a participation rate of just over 8% in 2025.

The Commission said it had published new research using additional GSGB questions, giving what it called its best picture yet of the illegal gambling market. It said 1% of respondents in Great Britain had engaged with illegal gambling websites in the year to April 2026, rising to 4% among those who gamble online excluding the National Lottery.

Gardner said: “We act where we have a regulatory basis, nothing beyond that.”