Sweden’s licensed gambling operators grew third quarter revenue by 1.3 per cent year-on-year, according to the latest data from gambling regulator Spelinspektionen.

The data is based on information from the Swedish tax authority and shows that licensed operators, both online and land-based, generated total gross gaming revenue of SEK6bn in the third quarter of 2020.

Commercial online betting and gaming GGR grew by 5.8 per cent year-on-year to SEK3.69bn, with revenue from state lottery and slot machine games climbing 7.7 per cent to SEK1.47bn. Other non-profit lotteries saw revenue climb by 5.4 per cent to SEK780m.

This growth was partially offset by the performance of land-based casino operations (Casino Cosmopol), which generated no revenue during the period due to COVID-related closures, compared to revenue of SEK245m in Q3 2019.

The third quarter period also saw declines in non-profit retail bingo, where GGR fell by 20.4 per cent to SEK47m, as well as retail commercial gaming (incl. restaurant casinos), where revenue fell by 23.7 per cent to SEK45m.

There are currently 100 companies holding active gaming licenses in Sweden, 72 of which are licensed to offer commercial online betting and gaming.

The data also shows that just over 56,000 people had excluded from gambling using the national exclusion register Spelpaus by the end of the period, an increase of 7 per cent versus the previous quarter, with the number of self-exclusions climbing to almost 58,000 by mid-November.

Alongside the Q3 data, Spelinspektionen also voiced its support for the proposed extension of temporary gambling restrictions in Sweden, which were first introduced in July in an effort to combat problem gambling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposal to extend restrictions on online casino deposit limits and land-based gaming machine loss limits was the subject of a public consultation which ended today (23 Nov.).

Gaming Intelligence