The Swedish government has decided to review the country’s Gambling Act shortly after the Spelinspektionen published the industry’s financial report for 2024. The Swedish Online Gambling Industry Association (BOS) has long requested this review.
2024 Was a Stable Year for Swedish Gambling The Swedish regulator, Spelinspektionen, reported that licensed gaming companies recorded a total turnover of SEK 27.8 billion ($2.61 billion) in 2024, marking a modest 2.8% increase year-on-year. The authority added that commercial online gaming and betting generated roughly SEK 18 billion ($1.7 billion) in sales, up 5% YOY. In the meantime, sales for state lotteries and slot machines increased by 2%.
The Spelinspektionen further noted that, in Q4 2024 alone, the industry recorded a turnover of SEK 7.6 billion ($710 million), up 8% year-on-year. The agency reported that SEK 4.6 billion ($420 million) of this came from commercial online gaming and betting. Another SEK 1.7 billion ($160 million) was attributed to the state lottery and slot gaming.
Charity and lottery gaming, on the other hand, reached SEK 1.1 billion ($100 million) in revenue in the fourth quarter of the year. In the meantime, Casino Cosmopol, Sweden’s state-owned casino operator reported Q4 revenue of SEK 31 million ($3 million). Land-based gaming, on the other hand, reached SEK 63 million ($6 million) in revenue. Last but not least, revenue from bingo gaming stood at SEK 50 million ($4.7 million) for Q4.
The Spelinspektionen emphasized that these figures are preliminary and based on information from the Swedish Tax Agency.
The agency also reported that, at the end of Q4, there was a total of 120,600 people who had excluded themselves from gambling via Spelpaus.se, up 3% YOY.
BOS Praises Efforts to Criminalize Offshore Gaming In the meantime, the government proposed reviewing the Gambling Act. The changes seek to criminalize offshore gambling in order to protect Swedish consumers and prevent money from leaking out to untaxed foreign companies. A state investigator is set to present the new proposal by September 17.
For context, unlicensed gambling companies are not strictly illegal at the moment and can operate as long as they do not actively target Swedes and do not offer offerings in the Swedish currency or language. However, since many Swedes are fluent in English and comfortable with using the euro, many of them have chosen to play with offshore websites.
The initiative was welcomed by the BOS, which had been requesting this review ever since the reregulation of Swedish gamin in 2019. BOS’ secretary general, Gustaf Hoffstedt, commented on the matter, highlighting the importance of banning illegal companies.
It became apparent fairly immediately after the reregulation that the gambling license market was leaking like a sieve. This was partly because many unlicensed gambling companies were able to continue to accept Swedish gambling customers, as long as they avoided the Swedish language and the use of Swedish currency.
Gustaf Hoffstedt The review comes in response to a recent letter the BOS sent to the government. Hoffstedt said that he is glad that his team is finally being listened to.
