Swedish gaming market grows in H1

ish gaming regulators Lotteriinspektionen have released the country's H1 results for gaming markets, showing tepid growth in Sweden’s regulated market for both national and foreign operators.

For Sweden, the H1 results might be a little bittersweet. Despite the local market increasing by 3% in comparison to the same time last year, non-Swedish operators' revenue grew at the far more rapid rate of 17%.

The total revenue for the gaming market reached SEK $11bn (£1bn) during the first half of 2017, accounting for a 3% increase. Swedish operators took the lion's share of turnover at SEK 8.4bn after net income. Non-Swedish operators made up the other SEK 2.7bn, growing at a faster rate than their local competitors at 17%.

The two major Swedish gambling operators Svenska Spel and ATG both had a mix of results. Svenska Spel, the largest, saw a decrease in their overall turnover of 2% to SEK 4.3bn. Although it must be noted that the period in comparison included the 2016 European Football Championships which saw a surge in sport betting and gaming revenue across the industry. Svenska did improve their online gaming sales by 12% and their land-based sales by 5%.

ATG managed to trade a total of SEK 2bn, up 3% from last year, and surpassed Svenska Spel’s impressive growth online, improving their revenue from internet betting by 14%.

The report shows a healthy Swedish market which is growing at a strong rate with online services expanding even faster. It will now be interesting to see if Sweden attempts to further regulate foreign operators in order to balance the growth rates between them and domestic operators.