Gambling Licences in Great Britain 2026: How Many Operators Are There?

Gambling licences UK figures from the Gambling Commission show 2,154 licensed operators in Great Britain at 31 March 2026, 1.1% fewer than a year earlier. Those operators held 3,097 licensed activities, because 364 of them were licensed for more than one activity. This guide explains the difference, breaks the numbers down by type and shows how they have changed since 2009, using the provisional data published in September 2026.

Operators and licensed activities: two different counts

The Commission publishes two headline figures. The number of operators counts businesses holding operating licences, while the number of licensed activities counts each type of gambling they are allowed to offer.

A company licensed for both remote casino and betting, for example, counts once as an operator but twice as an activity. At 31 March 2026 there were 1.44 activities per operator on average (our calculation).

The share of multi-activity operators was 16.9% in 2026, close to the 367 out of 2,179 recorded a year earlier. These Gambling Commission licence numbers are snapshots taken on 31 March each year.

Gambling licences UK: activities by type in 2026

The table shows licensed activities by category at 31 March 2026, with 2025 and the first year of the series for comparison.

Trading-rooms-only licences, six in 2009, have been zero since 2021. Online gambling revenue by game is set out in our online casino statistics UK report.

Remote casino, betting and bingo licences

The remote casino, betting and bingo category is the only one that grew strongly in 2025-26. It rose by 48 activities to 630, an increase of 8.2%, and now accounts for 20.3% of all licensed activities (our calculation).

In the Commission’s tables a remote casino licence sits in this combined category, so the figure cannot be split between casino, betting and bingo. It was 173 in March 2014 and 499 a year later, the year the Commission’s remote statistics series begins in November 2014.

The rise in 2026 almost exactly matches the overall increase. Total activities grew by 11, so without the remote category the count would have fallen by 37 (our calculation).

Licensed online operators must take part in GAMSTOP, a condition in place since 31 March 2020. Casinos outside GamStop that accept British players are therefore not on the Commission’s register.

The Commission also tracks activity by unlicensed operators, covered in our report on illegal gambling sites UK.

Land-based licences: a long decline

Most land-based categories have shrunk since 2009. Betting activities fell from 1,382 to 501 (−63.7%), adult gaming centres from 623 to 359 (−42.4%) and family entertainment centres from 312 to 102 (−67.3%).

Casino 1968 licences fell from 55 to 37, while the Casino 2005 category has stayed in single figures. Bingo is the one land-based activity that grew in 2026, from 154 to 157.

The figures count licences, not premises. There were 501 betting activities but 5,617 betting premises at 31 March 2026, and wider market figures are in our UK gambling industry statistics overview.

Lotteries, software and external lottery managers

Lottery licences are the second-largest category with 597 activities in 2026, almost unchanged from 634 in 2009. External lottery managers, which run lotteries on behalf of societies, fell from 48 to 42 in the latest year.

Gambling software is the biggest growth story outside remote gambling. Software activities rose from 99 in 2009 to 289 in 2026, up 191.9%, while gaming machine technical licences fell 41.2% to 378 (our calculation).

The rules that licensed operators and suppliers work under also change over time. The most recent major example is covered in our guide to online slots stake limits.

How many licensed gambling operators are there since 2009?

The number of licensed gambling operators has fallen in almost every year of the series. It was 3,482 in March 2009, 2,690 in 2019, 2,259 in 2024 and 2,154 in 2026.

The only clear increases came in 2015 and 2018. Total licensed activities fell 26.4% between 2009 and 2026 (our calculation), less than the fall in operators.

The licensing framework itself comes from the Gambling Act 2005. In December 2020 the government launched a review of the Act, which has led to measures such as the online slots stake limits.

Licence conditions have tightened in other ways too. Since 14 April 2020 licensed operators have been banned from accepting credit cards for gambling, so casinos that take credit card payments from British players are not operating under a GB licence.

Licence fees and how to check a licence

Operators pay for their licences. The Commission’s 2024-25 accounts show £25.22m of operator annual licence fees, up from £23.86m in 2023-24, plus £1.47m in application fees.

Application and licence fees ranged from £235 to £907,832 in 2024-25, depending on operator size and licence type. Fees are set by the Secretary of State, not by the Commission.

Licensed businesses must display that they are licensed and link to the Commission’s public register. Unlicensed offshore casinos do not appear on it.

Licensed operators also have to carry out age and identity checks, so casinos without ID checks are not following GB rules.

FAQ: gambling licences UK

Quick answers from official data.