According to preliminary data provided by the Swedish regulator Spelinspektionen, the online segment grew 6% to SEK1.7bn compared to the SEK1.6bn the sector achieved in the same period the previous year. However, state lottery and slot machines reported relatively stable year-on-year totals, receiving SEK5.8bn in revenue in both 2021 and 2022.
Due to a number of restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic – including the imposition of temporary gambling responsibility measures, as well as the closing of the state-owned Casino Cosmopol for parts of the year – the numbers achieved in 2022 reflect the normalisation of the sector as the first full year since 2020 which was not characterised by gambling restrictions.
This can be seen in the annual revenue reported by Casino Cosmopol, which saw a 93.5% year-on-year increase in revenue to SEK536m from SEK277m.
Quarterly figures
On a quarterly basis, the three-month period ending 31 December saw revenue increase 3.2% to SEK7.2bn compared to the SEK7.0bn the industry reported the previous year.
The national lottery saw a 4.2% increase in revenue in Q4 2022 to SEK927m compared to the SEK889m that the regulator reported in the three-month period ending 31 December 2021.
The only vertical to experience significant falls in revenue is the distinct Swedish vertical of restaurant casinos, which experienced a 15.9% decline in revenue – falling from SEK63m to SEK53m.
Some 85,000 people signed up the Swedish self-exclusion platform Spelpaus.se, a 5% increase from the previous quarter.