Spelinspektionen estimates 85% channelisation rate
Channelisation into the licensed market is at 85%, according to a Spelinspektionen study that surveyed the nation's gamblers.
Key points:
– The figure is down 1% from 2023
– The amount of gambling on the unlicensed market is an estimate based on surveys, web traffic and consultation with other bodies
– Channelisation is estimated to be up from “significantly below 50%” before regulation in 2019
Spelinspektionen, the Swedish Gambling Authority, has expressed that it believes the channelisation rate in the Swedish market was 85% across 2024.
If true that would mean that 85% of gambling by Swedes would have taken place with operators who hold a Swedish license.
More specifically, total net turnover, meaning players’ stakes minus paid out winnings, is the metric used to determine this figure, which is in fact 1% down from 2023.
Across the competitive market, state monopolies and games for public benefit (lotteries and physically located bingo), SEK 27.8bn ($2.96bn) was the measured turnover.
To determine the contrasting data for turnover outside these licensed and monitored markets, Spelinspektionen has liaised with various bodies to identify effective indicators, undertaken a programme of player surveys and utilised internet traffic data.
This consistent year-on-year channelisation figure is still a marked difference from the estimated equivalent before the market was regulated in Sweden back in 2019 – at that point it is thought to have been lower than 50%.
The survey summarises its finding on why people are likely to play outside the licensing system as being due to “better winning opportunities on websites and gaming sites without a Swedish license,” suspensions issued through the self-exclusion service, Spelpaus.se, and better bonus offers.
Good to know: Another study conducted by Spelinspektionen in November 2024 found that 71% of Swedes professed to gambling for money during the previous year
The authority has based much of its research and surveying on the premise that most of the gambling that takes place outside the regulated market happens online.
35% of people who were asked why they played on such sites said that it was for no particular reason – this was the most common response by some way.
The Swedish Government’s target for online channelisation is 90% and a similar study conducted by the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling found that the online market had a channelisation rate of just 77% in 2023, though the Spelinspektionen study does not differentiate between forms of gambling in its findings.
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