Enkätfabriken (‘Research Factory’), a market research company, collecting data for universities, companies, and government-owned organizations across Sweden and Europe, has recently carried out a study on behalf of Spelinspektionen, the Swedish Gaming Authority.
It zeroed in on Swedish residents, who are 18 years of age or older, and their gambling habits. Conducted through a web panel, with the help of Norstat, the study collected data from a total of 1,538 respondents. Nearly 75% of them admitted they gambled online at least once every three months.
As per the findings of the quantitative study, conducted in November 2023 and reflecting the previous 12 months, the nation’s gambling habits have remained consistent with the robust consumer protection objectives.
Of all respondents, 41% have confirmed they gambled in the last week, which marks an increase in comparison to previous research periods in 2021 and 2022. Lotteries and number games turned out to be the most preferred gambling genres for the past 12 months. The study also revealed that men showed a greater preference for sports betting compared to women.
The probability of winning and the stake size seemed to be the most important factors to the majority of respondents while gambling. As for the reason why they were gambling, the most common answers stated ‘fun’ and ’entertainment’, followed by ‘the probability of winning’.
When asked if they felt they played excessively over the last year, barely one in every ten respondents answered ‘yes’, with 18 to 29-year-olds representing the highest portion of this group. Of those who gamble daily, 47% replied positively to the same question.
Most of the participants answered they were aware of Spelpaus.se, Sweden’s government-run system, that would enable them to self-exclude from gambling for a specific period. However, only 4% of them have taken advantage of the service so far.
The majority of all participants (69%) responded favorably when asked about Swedish gambling operators’ commitment to problem gambling.
Most of the respondents were not aware they could check if a gambling company has a license issued by the Swedish Gaming Authority. Some 40% of respondents answered in the affirmative if they believed there were advantages to gambling with a licensed Swedish operator. However, nearly half of them replied with ‘I do not know’ to the same question.
Legislative and Tax Changes Will Most Likely be Implemented in Sweden in 2024
As far as legislation is concerned, the bulk of respondents were not aware that the Swedish gambling market was regulated on January 1, 2019. However, of all players who gamble daily, 77% knew that Sweden adopted a new gambling regime back then.
The New 2024 year will most likely bring in new legislative and tax changes for the regulated Swedish gambling market. The Swedish Parliament is currently in the process of drafting new legislative changes concerning online gambling.
Furthermore, proposals to raise the gambling tax rate from 18% to 22% of gross gaming revenue (GGR) are also under review. If approved, it will become effective from July 1, 2024.
