Study: Three in Four Swedes Gamble for Money

A new study on the Swedish gaming market has highlighted high participation rates in real-money games of chance. As it turns out, approximately three in four adults have engaged in gambling at least casually.

The Survey Probed 1,644 Respondents

The latest issue of the Public Opinion Survey, which the Swedish Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen) conducts annually, showed that a significant portion of all Swedes had engaged in gambling at least once in the past 12 months.

The Spelinspektionen clarified that the study is based on data that was collected in November 2024 from a total of 1,644 respondents. The gaming regulator added that the study was conducted in collaboration with the research agency Enkätfabriken.

As it turned out, roughly three in four adults had played at least once in the past year.

The Survey Findings

Among other things, the latest Public Opinion Survey discovered that approximately 71% of all respondents (1,164) had gambled for money in the past 12 months. The Spelinspektionen noted that this figure is more or less consistent with the previous survey.

In addition to that, the gambling authority learned that approximately a third of all respondents were regular gamblers, with 33% of all players saying that they played at least once every week. This figure was also unchanged from the previous year.

A staggering 84% of all gamblers said that they had played lotteries and number games at least once, cementing lottery gaming as the most common form of gambling in Sweden.

In the meantime, 71% of players said that they believed that gaming companies are somewhat responsible or very responsible for gambling problems. Speaking of gaming problems, 66% of respondents said that they were aware of Spelpaus.se, Sweden’s self-exclusion scheme. Unfortunately, awareness was slightly lower among women.

The Percentage of Younger Gamblers Increased

The publication of the latest Public Opinion Survey comes a few days after the Spelinspektionen published a new report on youth gambling, underscoring an increase in the percentage of younger gamblers. According to the authority, new gaming verticals, such as skin gambling, and gambling streams have led to a spike in gambling among teens and young adults.

The Spelinspektionen understood that many student gamblers used their student loans or wages to fuel their gambling. To make matters worse, some students had taken loans in order to gamble. This was most common among men aged 23 and 24 who are often considered to have weaker control over their gambling habits.

In other news, Svenska Spel, Sweden’s state-owned gambling operator, reported its share of revenue coming from non-risky customers. The operator posted a 93.9% healthy revenue share for Q4, which was consistent with the Q3 figures. However, the overall revenue coming from non-problem players increased by 1.5% for 2024, highlighting a positive trend.