A Quarter of Swedish Online Casino Bets Happen Outside the Licensed Market: What’s Behind Spelinspektionen’s Numbers

In September 2025, BOS (Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling) publicly stated that around 25% of all online casino bets in Sweden are placed on unlicensed platforms. Not as a one-off — consistently, for five years running.

Spelinspektionen published its figures: the overall channelisation rate (the share of gambling with licensed operators) stood at 85% in 2024. The government’s target is 90%. Online casino is the weakest segment: between 72% and 82% depending on methodology. Betting holds at 92–96%.

Licensed casino Sweden isn’t just a status — it comes with concrete obligations: verification, limits, self-exclusion, data protection. None of these mechanisms exist on unlicensed sites. Players who choose Vegazone casino operate within a predictable set of rules. Those who go to offshore operators are entirely outside any regulatory protection.

Overview of key market indicators

Metric	Value (2024)
Overall channelisation rate	85%
Government target	90%
Online casino channelisation (players)	82%
Online casino channelisation (turnover)	72%
Betting channelisation	92–96%
Survey coverage (players)	5,767 people
Analysis coverage (unlicensed sites)	2,000+ sites
Share of players who used licensed sites at least once	96%

Why Players Leave — and What It Means in Practice

Spelinspektionen conducted a survey. The findings are straightforward: 35% of players choose unlicensed sites because they believe the odds of winning are better there. 21% leave for bonuses — online casino bonus restrictions in Sweden are strict: one welcome bonus, capped at SEK 100.

H2 Gambling Capital revised its estimate of the Swedish iGaming market Sweden from 91% down to 72% channelisation for online casino. The Vegazone bonus on a licensed platform is constrained by law. Offshore operators are not bound by that law — and actively exploit the gap to attract players.

Why players choose unlicensed platforms

Reason for choosing an unlicensed platform	Share of players
Better odds of winning	35%
Blocked via Spelpaus	23%
Larger bonuses	21%
Wider game selection	Remainder

Who Benefits — and Who Doesn’t

Unlicensed operators pay no GGR tax Sweden — not 18%, not 22%. Every player who leaves a licensed platform is a direct tax loss for the public budget and an operational loss for the legal market. The state tightens the rules for those who pay. Those who don’t pay carry on regardless.

What Swedish Players Should Actually Do Right Now

Check the operator’s licence before making your first deposit. Spelinspektionen maintains a public register — every licensed casino Sweden is listed there. Not in the register means no licence.

From 1 April 2026, Sweden has a complete ban on credit payments in gambling. Casino deposit methods on licensed platforms are limited to debit cards, bank transfers, and e-wallets such as Trustly, Skrill, and Neteller — funded from a debit account. Credit cards, overdrafts, and BNPL services like Klarna are prohibited. Check your payment method before topping up your account.

Gambling regulation Sweden requires operators to provide limit-setting tools — for deposits, time spent, and losses. Set these when you register.

Spelpaus is the national self-exclusion system. As of March 2026, around 136,000 people are registered — 1.6% of Sweden’s adult population. Around 50% of them continue playing on unlicensed sites: Spelpaus only blocks licensed operators.

Read Vegazone review entries and feedback on independent aggregators before signing up — AskGamblers, Casinomeister, and Mr-Gamble publish verified data on withdrawal terms, payout speeds, and support quality. Casino player protection on licensed platforms is standardised and verifiable. Compare the terms — the figures are publicly available.

Market by the Numbers: Sweden in a Global Context

The global online gambling market was valued at $78.66 billion in 2024, according to Grand View Research. Europe’s share stands at $22 billion. The forecast for 2030 is $153.57 billion, with an annual growth rate of 11.9%.

The Swedish market is mature and tightly regulated. Licensed operators generated SEK 28.2 billion in GGR in 2025 — a 1.3% increase on 2024. The online segment grew 3.3% to over SEK 18 billion, while the land-based segment has virtually disappeared. The number of active licensed operators rose 6% to approximately 588, with the top ten generating 73% of total turnover.

Vegazone testimonials on independent platforms are a direct way to assess a specific operator’s real-world track record: payout timelines, verification processes, and bonus terms over the past 12 months. Trustpilot and AskGamblers provide an up-to-date picture across all of these.

The Swedish Gambling Act of 2018 established a unified regulatory framework. Responsible gambling as a practice is something each operator implements in its own way within those rules.

The Black Market: Scale, Trends, and Mechanics

According to ATG’s Q4 2024 report, the volume of the unlicensed market in Sweden ranges from SEK 3.9 to 7.7 billion annually. Since 2019, traffic to offshore gambling sites has grown tenfold — despite Spelinspektionen’s blocks and restrictions.

Most of the leading unlicensed sites run on the same gaming platforms as legitimate operators. Functionally, they are nearly identical. The difference lies in the absence of verification, limits, and tax obligations to the Swedish state.

How Gains and Losses Are Distributed Among Market Participants

Offshore operators pay no 22% GGR tax and incur none of the compliance costs — verification, AML procedures, or responsible gambling infrastructure. Yet they operate with the same audience, in the same market.

The major licensed operators — Kindred, Betsson, LeoVegas — are losing their share of the online casino audience but holding their position in betting, where channelisation stays at 92–96%. Smaller licensed operators are under greater pressure: the same tax burden, but less scale to absorb it.

The state collected an estimated SEK 500 million in additional tax revenue from raising the rate from 18% to 22%. At the same time, it is losing part of the tax base — players who have moved offshore contribute nothing. Players on licensed platforms receive standardised protection. Those who choose unlicensed sites for the bonuses or broader game selection operate without any payout guarantees or legal recourse in disputes.

Distribution of gains and losses across market participants

Market participant	Gains	Loses
Offshore operators	No taxes, no compliance costs	Reputational risk, threat of blocking
Major licensed operators	Stability in betting	Share of the online casino segment
Small licensed operators	Legal status	Competitiveness vs offshore
Government	+SEK 500m from tax increase	Part of the tax base shifts offshore
Players on licensed platforms	Protection, verification, limits	Restricted bonuses, smaller game selection
Players on unlicensed platforms	Bonuses, game variety	No protection, no payout guarantees

This Has Happened Before: What Regulatory History Shows

Sweden is not the first country to go through this. The UK banned credit cards in gambling in April 2020 — and saw a short-term spike in traffic to offshore sites. The market then stabilised. Italy introduced strict advertising restrictions in 2019 — the unlicensed segment temporarily grew, then contracted as blocking measures tightened.

The pattern repeats. Every new restriction on the licensed market gives offshore operators a short-term competitive edge. The long-term outcome depends on one thing: how quickly the regulator closes the alternative channels.

In Sweden, traffic to unlicensed sites has grown tenfold since 2019, despite active blocking. The rate at which new offshore platforms appear outpaces the rate at which they are blocked.

A shift to licensing based on accessibility — requiring any site accessible to a Swedish player to hold a licence — is scheduled for 1 January 2027. This is the only mechanism in the current regulatory package capable of systemically shifting the balance between licensed and unlicensed traffic.