Spelinspektionen has announced substantial growth in the betting and gaming market in Sweden, with lotteries proving to be a huge driving force in 2021.
The Swedish gambling inspectorate has declared total sales – stakes minus winnings paid out – of SEK26bn for the entirety of the country’s gambling industry in 2021, which represents a year-on-year growth rate of 5%.
State lottery and slot machine sales increased by 6%, with lotteries and numbers games emerging as the most popular and dominant forms of betting in Sweden, where 73% of its citizens gambled last year.
A Spelinspektionen survey has found that 75% of Swedish respondents had gambled using lotteries or numbers games, followed by 21% who stated they had bet on horse racing.
However, it was not all plain sailing for companies in 2021 as some were hit with fines for offering unlicensed games, such as Lotto Direct who were charged SEK15,000 in August 2021.
Investigations carried out found that 7% of gamblers admitted to playing with unlicensed Swedish operators, and a further 12% said they were unaware if they had been playing with a firm licensed in the country.
Pertintently, Spelinspektionen has acknowledged the increasing importance of its safer gambling campaign as the Swedish market enjoys exponential growth in terms of licensees and players.
