Sweden reveals online revenue growth in 2017

Swedish gambling regulator Lotteriinspektionen has reported an 11.4% year-on-year rise in total online gaming revenue for 2017.

Gross gaming revenue in the regulated Swedish market came in at SEK17.22bn (€1.64bn/$1.98bn), up 0.35% on SEK17.16bn in the previous year.

Online gaming revenue climbed to SEK10.3bn last year, SEK4.8bn of which came from licensed operators in the Swedish market and SEK5.5bn from international sites.

Lotteriinspektionen noted that the amount generated by international brands was up 14.7% year-on-year, while Swedish-based, licensed companies generated 14.9% more than in 2016.

Svenska Spel remains Sweden’s leading monopoly with revenue of SEK7.85bn for the year, an increase of just under 1% on 2016, while ATG posted revenue of SEK4.15bn and Casino Cosmopol SEK1.13bn.

On average, Swedish adults spent 2.18% of their disposable income on gambling in the past year, slightly less than 2.21% in 2016.

Sweden is on the verge of major regulatory change, after the government earlier this month submitted secondary legislation to the European Commission.

The legislation includes rules for licensing, responsible gambling, international cooperation, supervision and fees, with the Lotteriinspektionen expected to take on additional duties.

Sweden is due to open a licensing process on August 1 ahead of the expected introduction of the revamped laws on January 1, 2019.

Related article: Sweden pushes back licence applications to 1 August