Lottery remains most popular form of Swedish gambling as Spelinspektionen releases 2022 survey

Spelinkspektionen has revealed the findings of its annual survey which has found that lottery and number games remain the most popular forms of gambling in Sweden
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Spelinkspektionen has revealed the findings of its annual survey which has found that lottery and number games remain the most popular forms of gambling in Sweden.

Carried out at the end of November, the survey detailed that 71% of those who have gambled within the last 12 months have played lotteries or number games, making it the favourite gambling activity for Swedes. 

Conducted in collaboration with surveying company SKOP, the survey sought to establish Swedes’ gambling habits and how the relationship consumers have with Swedish gambling. 

According to Spelinspektionen, 72% of all Swedes have gambled within the last 12 months, which remains at a relatively stagnant level compared to the same survey last year. 

Meanwhile, 38% of all participants stated that they had gambled within the last week, which is up 4% YoY. However, given that the FIFA World Cup 2022 began at the end of November, coinciding with the fieldwork research, it is perhaps unsurprising that gambling activity has seen a spike. 

Further lottery-related data revealed that, whilst 71% of gamblers play the lottery, just 37% of those only do so on the internet, with 30% only purchasing lottery tickets from physical shops, at agents or at horse racing tracks. Meanwhile, 4% play the lottery via both the internet and retail channels. 

One notable aspect of the report established a clear relationship between gambling frequency and the way those high-value players consume gambling. 

Spelinspektionen noted: “There is a strong correlation between gambling frequency and playing on the Internet. The more often the players play, the larger percentage play on the Internet when it comes to lotteries and numbers games.”

Breaking down the consumption of lotteries by demographic, the research revealed that women and older people tend to play lotteries at retail locations compared to younger people and men. 

Other demographic factors that were identified by Spelinspektionen was that younger people gambled online more than older people, those who are on lower incomes gamble on the internet less than those on higher incomes and single people are more likely to play the lottery online than those who are married or in a committed relationship. 

Spelinspektionen also revealed an uptick in the awareness of its Spelpaus.se self-exclusion platform. Awareness of the platform jumped from 59% to 62% in the last year. 

Earlier this year, the inspectorate introduced Spelpaus 2.0 as it sought to update the self-exclusion register and increase the ability for people to gamble responsibly.