In a report published by the Danish Gambling Authority (DGA), the Nordic country boasted a 90% channelling rate for 2021, up from 88% in 2020.

This means that the remaining 10% of the market covers either the illegal market or Danish players who gamble with foreign websites.

Denmark’s 2021 channelling rate also sees it up one place from 2020, moving into joint fourth with Romania, who also recorded a 90% channelling rate.

However, the number of police reports, requests and blockings have all risen, as have the number of illegal gambling sites found via web searches.

In fact, these have all steadily risen, excepting a few spikes, since the partial liberalisation of Denmark’s online gambling market in 2012.

There were 31 reports, 210 requests and 55 blockings in 2021, compared to 16 reports, 160 requests and 16 blockings in 2020. Likewise, the number of sites found via searches rose 75%, from 1,565 in 2020 to 2,709 in 2021.

But perhaps most surprising is how prolific skin betting has become. Skin betting is the use of virtual goods, named for in-game cosmetic items that are commonly called “skins”, to wager on professional matches and other games of chance.

According to the DGA’s report, skin betting websites accounted for nearly half (48%) of all Danish visits to unlicensed domains in 2020, despite these sites only making up 6% of all domains visited by Danes.

“In 2021, the Danish Gambling Authority introduced new methods to try to uncover the market for skin betting in Denmark,” said the DGA.

“A measurement of website traffic in 2020 on gambling websites without a licence in Denmark gives an indication of the prevalence of skin betting on the Danish gaming market.”