The online gambling market in Sweden is the most dominant force in the country’s licensed and regulated gambling sector with SEK 17.84 billion generated in 2024. This is 5% more than the figures in the previous year according to the reports released by Spelinspektionen on 20 February.
The increase is driven by the growth within the commercial online gambling market of the country. Swedish online casinos and sports betting platforms have contributed to the rising numbers which has alerted the government of the country to review the Swedish Gambling Act.
In this article, we will discuss the decline of land-based casinos and lottery growth in Sweden and the record-breaking Q4 performance and future of the online gambling market.
The Decline of Land-Based Casinos and Lottery Growth
Sweden’s online gambling market takes over 64% of the overall gambling revenue and the dominance is highly unlikely to reduce in the near future. The regulatory framework of the country is more focused on licensed casino operators to ensure that the market growth is in tune with responsible gambling measures.
The rising popularity of iGaming or the online gambling sector reflects broader trends in the industry where gamers are increasingly opting for convenient and virtually accessible gambling and betting options.
Although the state-run and land-based gambling sector remains a vital part of the market landscape in the country, it represents a much smaller segment of the overall revenue.
Slot machines and state lottery generated around SEK 5.72 billion while the only state-run casino in Sweden, Casino Cosmopol, projected a revenue of SEK 160 million in 2024. The closure of many Casino Cosmopol land-based casinos has shrunk the sector down by almost 66.3%.
Bingo halls and charitable lotteries contributed SEK 196 billion and SEK 3.70 respectively, whereas land-based commercial gaming accounted for around SEK 235 million.
The Swedish government had proposed to discontinue the entire operation of Casino Cosmopol which, if approved, would lead to the closing of all the land-based casinos in Stockholm by 1 January 2026. However, the proposal met with criticisms from Spelinspektionen as this move might potentially lead to more illegal land-based gambling in the country.
Q4 Performance Highlights and Future Outlook
The final quarter of 2024 generated the highest revenues in Sweden. In total, the revenue hit for Q4 was SEK 7.61 billion which was a significant increase of almost 7.6% from 2023 and 14.3% more than the Q3 total in 2024.
Additionally, online gambling generated the most revenue at SEK 4.63 billion, an increase of almost 6.2% against 2023. These numbers also surpass all other quarters of 2024.
Slot machines and state lotteries emerged as the fastest-growing segment with revenues rising by almost 18.5% and landing at SEK 1.71 billion.
National lotteries and non-profit games revenue also jumped 5.2% to SEK 1.13 billion. Revenues generated by land-based commercial gaming were also higher by up by 8.6% year on year at SEK 64 million in Quarter 4.
Added to that, hall bingo and community games revenue remained level at SEK 50 million in Q4.
