According to information from Lotteriinspektionen, Svenska Spel -the state-owned gambling operator providing both land-based and online casino, poker, and sports betting options- was the largest tax revenue contributor. ATG, the nation’s horse racing operator, generated the second largest portion of gambling tax revenue last year.
The Swedish gambling regulator also pointed out that tax revenue from gambling has increased 29% or US$176 million over the past decade. The revenue generated in 2017 by Sweden’s licensed gambling operators also represented a 4% rise from 2016.
Lotteriinspektionen is yet to publish its financial report for 2017, but according to the figures posted for the first three quarters of last year, Sweden’s regulated market was worth US$1.57 billion in terms of revenue generated by all licensed operators. About the same amount was reported for the same nine months of 2016.
While Sweden’s regulated market may have not grown in 2017, the case was much more different with the country’s unregulated gambling operations. Revenue from unlicensed operators totaled US$509 million during the first three quarters of 2017, reflecting and 11% increase from a year earlier. In other words, unregulated operations accounted for a quarter of the nation’s whole gambling market.
Over the past several years, foreign operators and their products have grown in popularity among Swedish customers. According to a September 2017 report by Swedish consultancy firm Mediavision, around 61% of all new gambling accounts opened in the first half of 2017 were registered with international gambling companies.
Souce: GMB / Casino News Daily
