More than one in every four Swedes are gambling online

A recently published study has concluded that more than one in every four Swedes are regularly active in the online casino. To be more precise, according to this survey, 28 % of the Swedes gamble online at least once every three months. But why is online gambling so widespread in Sweden and is this development a warning signal.

In December 2020 we had reported that only one in every 20 Swedes can recognise a licensed online casino. A recent study commissioned by the Swedish Gambling Authority Spelinspektionen has shown that online gambling is quite widespread in the Scandinavian countries.

28 % of the respondents participate regularly in online gambling

According to the recent survey, more than one in every four Swedes (28 %) participate in online gambling at least once every three months. The market research company SKOP held a survey among nearly 11,000 Swedes who are over 18 years. However, only around 4,400 persons have replied to the survey. 

1251 Swedes from these 4400 persons have stated that they engage in online gambling at least once every three months. More than one in every four respondents (26 %) also stated that they play once a month. 15 % of the respondents have even stated that they play at least in the online casino at least once a week or that they make use of other online gambling offers also at least once a week.

Do the Swedes use legal or illegal gambling offers on the net?

According to the recent survey, the large majority of the gambling fans who took part in the survey have made use of legal gambling companies. The Swedish Gambling Authority has stated that only 8 % of the respondents stated that they made use of offers of unlicensed providers. However in March 2021 we had reported about whether the decrease in canalisation in online gambling in Sweden is a warning signal for Germany. Thus, at this point one may also question whether the players who took part in the survey have actually said the truth in their answers.

One in every four players (27 %) who took part in illegal offers have explained that they got to know about this illegal offer through gambling advertisements. Around one in every three (36 %) have stated that they got to know about the offer of the illegal provider from another player. Further respondents stated that they are not able to distinguish between legal and illegal offers or that they play with illegal providers because they are officially blocked from gambling.

The case of Mr Green shows that when compared to other authorities, the Swedish Gambling Authority proceeds very strict against illegal offers and infringements. In September of last year we had reported that Mr Green Limited must pay a fine of around three million Euro, because the Swedish Authority had found massive infringements in its operations.

Conclusion

The study, which was commissioned by the Swedish Gambling Authority Spelinspektionen, concluded that 28 % of the 10.4 million Swedes participate in online gambling at least once every three months. Around one in seven respondents even admitted that they have betted money in online gambling at least once a week.

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