UK Online Gambling Market Worth GBP 900m in 2008

When a few short years ago the UK government took the forward-thinking step of legalizing and regulating online gambling in the country, there is little doubt it knew precisely what it was doing and just how enormous the taxes levied on online gambling revenues would be to help top up it coffers.

In fact, according to a recent study published by the UK Gambling Commission, in 2008 alone the total revenues generated by UK online gamblers added up to £896 million. The Commission compiled the study using data provided by UK government agencies as well as a number of UK online gambling operators.

Famous for being a gambling-loving nation, the United Kingdom has a long and rich history of gambling that dates back hundreds of years. Today millions of UK citizens frequent land and online bingo halls, play the lottery, bet on all manner of sports including football and horseracing, and enjoy land and online casinos.

According to the UK Gambling Commission study, in 2008 the entire UK gambling industry was estimated to be worth £84 billion, £9.9 billion of which was profit. Interestingly, of the £84 billion approximately 25 percent was attributed to bi-weekly UK National Lottery sales.

The study also showed that in 2008 the number of all licensed online gambling sites in the UK rose from 300 to 328. While these include online casinos, online poker rooms, online bingo halls and online sports betting sites, the largest number of UK online gambling licenses have been granted to online sportsbooks.