
Online gross gambling yield (GGY) has soared, and that is largely down to the continued contribution of slots, according to the latest set of results published. The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) posted figures indicating slots GGY had soared by 9% to £747 million year-on-year.
The figures covering the period July to September 2025 indicated an online total GGY of £1.42 billion for the quarter, representing an 8% increase from Q2 last year. Online betting is more in vogue, and there appears to be an insatiable appetite for slots you'll find at a UK online casino.

When the figures were broken down, slots were king and remained a big driving factor in the continued growth of the UK online gambling industry. Total spins were up 4% year-on-year (YoY) taking it to a new high of 24.4 billion.
Online growth remained undisrupted despite the introduction of new measures for slots in Q2. Refreshed maximum stake limits for online slot games ensured more responsible gambling, where players aged 25 or above could only wager up to £5 per spin. For players between the ages of 18 and 24, a £2 limit per spin was enforced.
Although the number of average monthly accounts decreased by 0.4% to 4.4 million per month, the GGY and the number of spins indicated new peaks. This was the second quarter in a row where slots continued to pull their weight in the online gambling sector.
The only thing that should be tempered about the online slot results is the shorter session times. Indeed, the number of online slot sessions lasting more than an hour dropped by 15% YoY to 8.6 million. Average session length dropped by a minute to 16 minutes, and a couple of operators have supposedly refined their session length methodology. Meanwhile, online table games and poker experienced sharp falls.
With online betting showing no signs of slowing down, the slump in retail betting is evident. Figures showed a sharp decline with betting premises GGY falling by 5% to £508 million in Q2 2025 to 2026. Over-the-counter GGY also slipped by 10% to £137m.
The total number of bets and spins placed dropped by 2% to 3.1 billion. These figures probably ought not to come as a surprise, as a swathe of major gambling groups are considering streamlining their retail footprint should gambling tax hikes be introduced as widely mooted. Betfred, for example, is threatening to shut down all 1,287 betting shops.
Last month, Betfred founder Fred Done said: “If the tax rate went up to anywhere like 40% or even 35%, there is no profit in the business. We would have to close it down. I’m talking job losses.
“I think this is the biggest threat I have known since I’ve been in the industry. On a 1-10 scale it’s a ten, all the alarm bells are ringing here.”
Overall, there was a significant disparity in the figures for online and in-person GGY recorded. However, the UKGC were keen to stress one thing about the market data.
In its report, it stated:
“Comparisons should not be made with the industry statistics dataset, as this dataset may include free bets and bonuses and does not include data from all operators.”

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