The Spillemyndigheden, the Danish Gambling Authority, has released its yearly Gambling Market in Numbers data report.
Firstly, the Authority notes that while 2020, 2021 and 2022 all had some level of restrictions on the land-based gambling market due to global events, 2023 was the first year since the Covid-19 pandemic that all restrictions were lifted.
The total gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the Danish gambling market was DDK 10.3bn (US$1.48bn), which was a decrease of 1.7% year-on-year.
Even with the increase in online and land-based casinos, at 0.3% and 2.6% respectively, this wasn’t enough to offset decreases across other verticals.
Lotteries dropped 0.7% to DKK 3.47bn, betting fell 9% to DKK 2.2bn and gaming machines decreased 1.4% to DKK 1.18bn.
Online gambling represented 64% of GGR, with a steady increase noted since 2012; while mobile devices accounted for 67% of this and desktop computers 33%.
In 2023, the gambling market contributed 0.37% towards the overall Danish gross domestic product (GDP).
There were a total of 965 licences active last year, too, with 583 licences awarded to charity lotteries and an additional 947 approvals sent to charity lotteries whose sales did not meet the minimum requirement for a licence, but wanted a notification nonetheless.
Ireland had the highest per capita gambling spend in Europe with DKK 4,098, which was followed by Iceland, Malta and Italy – Denmark came 11th.
When solely online gambling was taken into account, Denmark had the third-highest share of online gambling spend at 64%, while Ireland didn’t even place in the top ten.
By the end of 2023, 46,152 people were registered as self-excluded players, an increase of 7,231 from the year prior.
Out of everyone on the register, 36% were aged between 18 and 29, and 30,804 opted for a permanent exclusion.
Interestingly, it was found that Danes use gambling machines most frequently on Fridays, with this day alone accounting for 17% of the total amount put into the machines. Sunday was the second-highest day of the week, at 12%.
In 2023, Friday 28 April was the day Danes put the most money into gaming machines, while Sunday 24 December received the least.
