Gambling revenue in Sweden increased 10.2% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2021, driven by growth within the country’s online gambling sector.
Total market revenue – players’ wagers minus winnings paid out – for the three months to 30 June was SEK6.51bn (£548.2m/€637.8m/$755.5m). This was up from SEK5.91bn in the second quarter of last year and also 4.8% higher than SEK6.25bn in the first quarter of 2021.
Online gambling remained by far the primary source of gambling revenue during Q2, with revenue from online casino games and sports betting increasing 13.9% year-on-year to SEK4.11bn.
Revenue from the state lottery and land-based slot machines also climbed by 9.3% to SEK1.41bn, while revenue from charitable lotteries edged up from SEK937m to SEK939m.
Charity bingo games revenue increased 15.8% to SEK44m, though revenue from the land-based commercial games segment, including restaurant casinos, declined 85.3% year-on-year to SEK5m.
Figures published by Swedish regulator Spelinspektionen also revealed that no revenue was generated by state-owned land-based casino Casino Cosmopol for fifth consecutive quarter as facilities remained closed due to novel coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions.
Casino Cosmopol began to reopen its sites from early July as Covid-19 measures were eased in Sweden.
Spelinspektionen also revealed that 100 companies had active licences in Sweden in June, while at the end of the quarter, almost 64,000 players had opted into the Spelpaus self-exclusion program.
