Sweden licensed market reports 5% increase in turnover for Q2

Licensed operators in Sweden reported a combined turnover of SEK7.4 billion ($776 million) in the second quarter of 2026, marking a 5.1% increase compared to the corresponding period in 2025.

Wednesday’s data was released by gambling regulator Spelinspektionen. Turnover is defined by the regulator as players’ stakes minus winnings paid out.

Online gaming and sports betting generated the majority of earnings at SEK4.96 billion. This was a year‑on‑year increase of slightly above 7%. 

State-run lotteries and slot machine games contributed SEK1.43 billion, remaining largely stable compared to Q2 25. Games run for public benefit, including lotteries and hall bingo, accounted for SEK863 million combined, with hall bingo turnover steady at around SEK51 million.

Land‑based commercial gaming, mainly consisting of casino operations at restaurants, recorded SEK73 million in turnover, reflecting a significant increase of nearly 13% from SEK64 million in the same quarter last year. 

As Svenska Spel’s final Casino Cosmopol venue was shut down in 2025, the state-operator reported negligible to zero turnover during the period.

Market indicators and self-exclusion

Also reported in Spelinspektionen’s Q2 report was participation in Spelpaus.se, the national self‑exclusion system.

Spelpaulse reported a slight decline of 0.7%, compared with the previous quarter, with just under 138,000 individuals regulatered as self-excluded by the quarter’s close.

In April, Spelinspektionen established new rules that clarified and standardised how operators must technically connect to Spelpaus. The new protocols included unique IDs and tighter verification. 

Spelpaus was introduced following the country’s 2019 regulatory reform.

The self-exclusion system came under scrutiny last year after a documentary series alleged that the register had experienced a data breach.   

The unregulated market

Spelinspektionen reported 2,186 active gambling websites without Swedish licences, as of 30 April. 

The regulator reported that influencers remained a prominent factor in the promotion of unlicensed online gambling services to the nation’s consumers. 

In a previous report, affiliate marketing networks and ‘link farms’ which redirected search traffic towards unlicensed casinos were flagged as a primary concern for the regulator, particularly as these networks included a significant number of online influencers.

Channelisation for online gambling slipped by 1% in 2025 to 84%. 

The 84% figure represented a slight drop from the regulator’s 2024 assessment and a further decline from the 86% rate it reported in 2023.