Sweden Reports Gambling Sales Rise In Q1

Last updated on December 7th, 2021

Sweden is reporting strong numbers from gambling sales after the first quarter of 2021. More specifically, there is a 5% rise in gambling revenue in Sweden when compared to sales last year. Moreover, the Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s official gambling regulator, reported SEK 6.2bn (£526m/$745m/€610m) for the Q1 of 2021, as opposed to SEK 5.9bn (£501m/$790m/€580m)for the same period in 2020.

You could say that this news comes as somewhat of a surprise. Especially if you consider that at the same time, there is a 6% increase in self-exclusion in Sweden for Q1. Short of 63.000 players have requested self-exclusion, exclusively via Spelpaus.se. That is Sweden’s self-exclusion program, and so far the number of such players is something above 64.000.

Regardless of that fact, Sweden is noticing a rise in gambling sales pretty much in any department. Online casinos and sports betting, for example, are up 7.7% when compared to Q1 of 2020. This amounts to SEK 3.9bn in 2021, in comparison with the SEK 3.65bn last year. We must add that this comes after the record sales from gambling for Q4, in 2020. Back then, Sweden reported record revenue from gambling, with a hefty SEK 4.2bn in the midst of a pandemic. Consequently making for the highest gambling revenue in Sweden for one quarter, since imposing the new gambling regulations.

Furthermore, Slot games and state lottery are also reporting a rise in sales. Specifically, there is an increase from SEK 1.1bn for Q1 in 2020, in comparison with SEK 1.4bn this year. Yet these numbers are still not bigger than the record numbers from Q4 in 2020. Back then slot games and state lottery were responsible for SEK 1.5bn in revenue..

Probably the biggest losers are land-based casinos and bingo. For that matter, there is a drop from SEK 52m in Q1 2020, to a low SEK 6M this year. Bingo on the other hand did a little better. Specifically, the revenue dropped from SEK 52m, to SEK 44m. It looks like not everyone in Sweden is noticing a Q1 rise in gambling sales.

It seems like Sweden highly regulated gambling scene is producing results. This is despite the SEK 5.000 deposit limit which the government imposed back in July 2020. The reason for the law is to protect the players during the pandemic, especially from black market services. Moreover, this law is in force until November 14th, and we are yet to see how will the situation unfold. That definitely depends on several external factors, such as the Covid-19 for starters.

However, gambling providers do not like this limit. The Spelinspektionen is against such limits, just as many gambling operators are. They believe that this restriction only serves the illegal gambling providers, and no one else. Whatever the case, we are still waiting to hear a formal statement from Sweden’s government, concerning this matter.