Swedish Gambling Market Sees 6% Year-on-Year Growth in Q2 2024

Growth in Online Gambling Leads the Market

According to data from Spelinspektionen, the Swedish gambling market experienced notable growth during the second quarter of 2024. Turnover – defined as players’ stakes minus paid winnings – reached SEK 6.9bn, marking a 6.4% year-on-year increase compared to Q2 2023’s SEK 6.7bn. This growth was primarily driven by commercial online gambling, which generated SEK 4.6bn, an increase of 9.2% from the previous year.

While online gambling experienced growth, state-operated casino games, particularly Casino Cosmopol, faced a significant decline. Turnover from state casino games dropped by 73.8%, falling to SEK 33m compared to SEK 126m in the same quarter last year. Spelinspektionen attributed this decline to the recent closure of Casino Cosmopol and acknowledged concerns from Swedish Police about potential illegal gambling activity affecting land-based consumers.

Mixed Performance Across Other Verticals

State lottery and slot games saw a slight dip in turnover, reaching SEK 1.3bn in Q2 2024 compared to SEK 1.4bn in the previous year. Similarly, turnover from gaming for public purposes/national lotteries fell slightly to SEK 893m, while community games and hall bingo remained stable at SEK 52m. Land-based commercial gambling, which includes restaurant casinos, saw a minor increase, rising to SEK 56m from SEK 53m in Q2 2023.

In addition to turnover data, Spelinspektionen reported an increase in the number of people using Spelpaus, Sweden’s self-exclusion service. By the end of Q2 2024, 112,000 individuals had registered for the service, a 1.7% increase compared to the previous quarter.

The Q2 results reflect the ongoing shifts in Sweden’s gambling landscape, with strong growth in the online sector counterbalanced by declines in state-operated land-based casino games.