Half of the Swedes Find Licensed Sites Beneficial, Only 10% Can Identify Them.

According to a survey commissioned by the Swedish Gaming Authority’s Spelinspektionen and published by consultancy Skopm, only 10% of players know how to identify a licensed gambling platform actively. Furthermore, only 53% of players find playing at licensed sites beneficial.

The Survey Questioned Players’ Gambling Habits

The survey, ordered by the authority responsible for ensuring the safety, legality, and reliability of Sweden’s gambling and betting market, surveyed 1,600 adults in the country. The study focused on learning more about your gambling habits in 2021—some of the most interesting questions related to using unlicensed gambling websites. The survey data shows that only 2% of the polled players in 2021 made a conscious and conscious choice to gamble on unlicensed operators.

The worrying figure of 10% associated with Swedish players knowing how to tell whether a particular operator is licensed or not also means that a whopping 90% of players overall have yet to learn how to use an operator recognized without a license. Among the gamblers who know how to identify a licensed gambling operator are the most significant number of gamblers who play games regularly. The worrying figure has remained flat year-on-year, indicating a need for more player education on the differences between unlicensed players and licensed sectors. Last July, the Swedish regulator surveyed 3,000 players about their online gambling habits and showed that the main reasons players choose gambling sites with a license were security, control, and protection. The same survey in July 2021 found that 7% of players who gambled online at least once every three months said they used a gaming website that failed to provide proof of license.

21% of Swedish Players “Will or Might Play” with Unlicensed Sites

72% of the country’s adult population gambled in 2021, a slight decrease from the previous year. Players who have gambled in the week before taking the survey. These numbers showed a 34% increase from the last year and represented the highest number recorded in Sweden since 2013. Around 2% of the gamblers surveyed said they gambled in some form daily. About 19% of gamers said they might stop gaming as the cost of living increases.

At the same time, 21% of Swedish players indicated that they “would or could play” with unlicensed operators in the future. Regarding gender, male players were much more likely to have played in the seven days before the survey, with 46% being male players compared to 30 male players detected by the study. Gamers outside of major cities and older people were likelier to have gambled over the same period. Lotteries, horse racing, and bingo leading Lotteries, horse racing betting, and bingo, were the three most popular forms of gambling in Swedes.

Only 2% of players felt they bet more than they should, while less than 1% voluntarily asked for help. About 4% of players felt the industry “absolutely” takes enough social responsibility, 29% of them believed the authority “maybe” does, and 48% thought the source “probably” doesn’t take enough responsibility. In comparison, 18% said the industry is “absolutely” not taking on the social responsibilities needed to reverse the harms of gambling.