SGA publishes new data on consumer gambling habits during Covid-19

A new Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) survey has found that 19% of Swedish players who gamble more than once a quarter have increased their gambling during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Researchers from SKOP, commissioned by the SGA, surveyed more than 3,000 players over the age of 18 for the study, with one in three (32%) admitting to gambling online at least once a quarter.

One in four players (27%) said they gambled every month or more frequently, with 16% suggesting they gambled every week.

Of this reference sample, 7% said they had deliberately played on sites without a Swedish licence, while a further 12% claimed they did not know if the site they had gambled on was licensed or not.

Of those who gambled within the quarter on an unlicensed site, it was an even split between those whose gambling activity increased during the pandemic (50%) and those whose had remained stable or decreased (50%).

When accessing unlicensed sites, 47% of survey respondents said they had done so by explicitly searching online, with one in three players citing tips from friends and promotions as the main reasons for accessing these sites.

More than half said they had paid by card when using an unlicensed site with payments processed via Trustly accounting for more than 80% of survey respondents doing so.

Survey participants who claimed they had gambled on unlicensed sites listed poker and online casino as the main verticals they had sought out.

In addition, survey participants suggested the possibility of accessing better odds and winnings, as well as bonuses and sites they had been previously blocked on via Spelpaus, were the main reasons for gambling on unlicensed sites.

The questions about games on unlicensed sites were only answered by around 60 people and should therefore be interpreted with caution, according to the SGA’s methodology.

Of those who had gambled on Swedish-licensed sites, 54% said they had done so because of security and safety concerns, with 41% admitting they had done so due to the presence of an external regulator.

Lotteries, or so-called number games, were the most popular among survey participants who had gambled online, accounting for 60% of players, with betting on horseracing and sports accounting for 36% of consumers.

One in five (20%) said they had played online casino, dropping to 11% for online bingo and 7% for online poker.

Half of the online gamblers surveyed (50%) claimed they had only done so on one vertical.

The interviews were conducted in May 2021 via an online survey.