Spelinspektionen has conducted a survey on Sweden’s online gambling habits, revealing that six per cent of respondents have intentionally played on a website that does not have a gaming licence in the country.
Carried out by Enkätfabriken in May 2023 on behalf of the Swedish Gambling Inspectorate, the survey gathered responses from 3,912 Swedish residents aged 18 or over. This is the third year in a row in which the survey has taken place.
A screening question was asked where respondents stated if they had participated in online gambling at least once a quarter. Only those that had said yes progressed.
Of all respondents, 14 per cent said that they have participated in online gambling at least once a week, while 31 per cent noted that they had gambled online at least once a quarter.
From the 1,213 that progressed in the survey from the screening question, six per cent said that they had intentionally played on a site in the last three months that doesn’t have a Swedish gaming licence. Four per cent said they played unintentionally on a site that doesn’t have a licence.
67 per cent of respondents found a website without a Swedish gaming licence when they searched on the internet (2022: 35 per cent), while 39 per cent stated that the top reason why they played on gambling sites without a licence is due to bonus offers.
Out of the respondents that progressed in the survey past the screening question, 54 per cent responded that they had used one online gaming account in the last 90 days, 30 per cent said they had used two accounts, eight per cent said they had used three, while six per cent said they had used four or more accounts.
The survey also discovered that respondents that have four or more accounts and play almost every day have played intentionally on sites that don’t have a Swedish licence to a greater extent than other groups.
Lotteries and number games lead the way
Lotteries and number games were the most popular form of online gambling in the last three months amongst respondents at 61 per cent, followed by horse racing at 38 per cent, sports betting (excluding horse racing) at 22 per cent, casino/slots (excluding poker) at 21 per cent, bingo at 14 per cent and poker at seven per cent.
Among the respondents that had played online casino in the last three months, 44 per cent stated that they had used an autoplay function while playing.
The respondents were also asked about Spelpaus.se, Sweden’s self-exclusion gambling service, to which 11 per cent said they had heard of the service and had used it (2022: nine per cent).
Of the 1,213 respondents, 75 per cent said they knew about Spelpaus but hadn’t used it (2022: 76 per cent), while 14 per cent said they didn’t know about the service.
87 per cent said they never felt that they had a problem with their gambling over the past 12 months (2022: 83 per cent), while 11 per cent felt they sometimes did (2022: 13 per cent).
Regarding Spelinspektionen, 67 per cent of the survey’s respondents said they had a fairly or very high level of confidence in the gambling authority.