Swedes' gambling habits are regularly checked

The Swedish Gambling Authority regularly conducts surveys to learn more about Swedes' gambling habits. One of the important reasons, of course, is that they want to see the effect of various measures aimed at increasing the degree of focus on the Swedish gaming market and reducing the risk of gambling. The latest survey was conducted in April and May 2021, when about 3,000 people over 18 were interviewed using an online survey. Regarding how often the Swedes play online, the result was as follows:

32% play online at least once a quarter
25% play online every month or more
16% play online every week

The most popular lotteries and games with numbers

As many as 60% of those who play online choose lotteries or number games, while 36% prefer to play trot or other sports. In addition, 20% of survey participants played casinos, 11% bingo and 7% poker. On the other hand, the most popular games among those who choose sites without a Swedish license are poker games and online casinos.

When asked why players choose Swedish licensed sites, the respondents answered that the most important reasons are that they offer safety, security and control. Other reasons were that the Swedish gaming companies are serious and controlled by the Swedish authorities.

Relatively few claim to play on overseas sites

There is a lot of talk about casinos without a Swedish license, but in the SCOP survey, only 7% of players who play at least once a quarter said they chose a foreign gaming site https://casinos-without-license.com/international-casinos/. However, the result is not entirely reliable. Respondents were also asked which pages they chose, and some of them indicated pages that actually have a Swedish license. At the same time, 12% of respondents answered that they are not sure if they play on the site without a Swedish license. Here, too, several interviewees cited Swedish licensed pages as examples of where they played.

When asked why participants chose sites without a Swedish license, 25% said it was because they offered other chances and winning opportunities, while 21% of participants said that the reason was bonus offers offered by foreign sites. Almost the same proportion, 20%, also answered that they chose foreign gaming sites because Swedish sites were blocked via Spelpaus.se. Another reason was that players wanted to avoid the SEK 5,000 per week deposit limit that applies to Swedish licensed gaming sites.

Some members have increased their gambling in the past year

Among those who play at least once a quarter, 19% were playing more at the time of the survey than before the current crisis. In addition, 10% in the same group said that either they themselves or someone close to them thinks that they play too much. Those who played on sites without a Swedish license were more likely to answer yes to both questions than those who only played on sites with a Swedish license. Artificial intelligence technology is being used to promote responsible gaming, read about it on this page.

The investigation by SKOP and Spelinspektionen did not bring any serious news. However, it is interesting that some players do not seem to know which casinos are Swedish licensed and even confuse them with foreign casinos. Here, Swedish sites have room for improvement, such as being more clear that they have received a license from the Swedish Gambling Authority and what that actually means.