Sweden
The Gambling Act (2018:1138) took effect on 1 January 2019, replacing the former state-dominated model with a licensing system open to private operators for commercial online gambling and betting. Spelinspektionen licenses and supervises operators and enforces a statutory duty of care (omsorgsplikt) to protect players. Licensed commercial gambling is taxed at 22% of gross gambling revenue (raised from 18% on 1 July 2024), and operators may offer a bonus only on the first occasion a customer gambles with them.
The channelisation goal
The 2018 Gambling Act reopened Sweden to private operators from 1 January 2019, ending decades of state dominance. Its central metric is channelisation: the share of gambling that occurs with licensed operators rather than unlicensed sites. Policy set a 90 per cent target, on the reasoning that consumer protection only reaches players who remain inside the regulated system. Spelinspektionen estimates channelisation using a combination of player surveys and traffic-based turnover models. Published estimates have stayed below the target, with online casino consistently lower than sports betting.
Omsorgsplikt in practice
The statutory duty of care (omsorgsplikt) requires licensees to counteract excessive gambling rather than merely offer voluntary tools. In practice this means monitoring player behaviour, intervening with those showing risk indicators, and documenting the basis for any action. Operators may not extend credit, and online casino play requires players to set deposit and loss limits. Every licensee must also connect to Spelpaus.se, the national self-exclusion register: a registered player is blocked across all licensed operators simultaneously and cannot be reached by direct marketing while the exclusion stands.
The one-bonus rule
Under the Act, a bonus may be offered only on the first occasion a player gambles with a given operator. After that first interaction, further free bets, deposit matches or similar inducements are not permitted for that customer. This is among Europe's strictest bonus restrictions and reshapes acquisition economics: operators cannot deploy recurring promotions to retain or reactivate players, so competition shifts toward the initial sign-up and toward product, odds and service rather than ongoing bonusing. Bonus breaches have appeared among Spelinspektionen's published enforcement decisions.
Tax and licence structure
Licensed commercial operators pay 22 per cent of gross gambling revenue, calculated per calendar month as stakes minus payouts, following the rise from 18 per cent on 1 July 2024. Public-benefit and non-profit gambling remains tax-exempt, reflecting a separate lottery regime for charitable causes. Licences cover distinct activities: commercial online gambling, betting, land-based venues, and the state-retained monopolies operated by Svenska Spel and ATG. Terms run for up to five years and are renewable. The tax increase prompted debate over whether higher costs could push players toward unlicensed sites.
Enforcement and the offshore debate
Spelinspektionen supervises licence conditions, responsible-gambling duties and anti-money-laundering compliance, with powers ranging from warnings and financial penalties to licence revocation. A recurring policy question is how to lift channelisation toward the 90 per cent goal, particularly for online casino, where estimates sit well below betting. Measures discussed have included tighter payment-blocking and clearer limits on unlicensed operators' reach into Sweden. Because unlicensed sites fall outside the duty of care and Spelpaus, the channelisation gap is framed as a consumer-protection concern, not only a question of tax revenue.
Tax
gross gambling revenue (stakes minus payouts, per calendar month)
22% of GGR (raised from 18% on 1 July 2024)
Applies to licensed commercial online gambling and betting; the gambling tax is 22% of gross gambling revenue (stakes minus payouts) per calendar month, effective 1 July 2024 (raised from 18%). Gambling organised for the public benefit under a public-interest licence is tax-exempt.
Key facts
Sweden across the portal
Compare Sweden head-to-head
Open forecasts
Will Sweden enact a change to its 22% gambling tax with effect during 2027?20%resolves by 2028-01-15RTP rules
No statutory minimum RTP for commercial online gambling. The Gambling Act (spellagen, SFS 2018:1138) grants only an enabling power to make rules on bets, winnings and payout percentages (Ch. 21 §2); it sets no minimum in the Act itself.
Gambling Act Ch. 14 §4 requires the licence holder to keep all relevant information about a game — including its rules and the likelihood of winning — easily accessible to players, in Swedish. Ch. 14 §5 bars designs that give the impression of being close to a win when that is not the case.
Licence types
Fees
Change-watch
Gambling tax raised from 18% to 22% of gross gambling revenue effective 1 July 2024; industry (BOS) warned it could pressure channelisation toward unlicensed operators.
Updated annual supervision fees (around SEK 264,000 per licence) applied from 1 January 2025.
Continued focus on channelisation and measures against unlicensed/offshore operators targeting Swedish consumers.
Expanded ban on gambling on credit took effect: the prohibition now covers all forms of deferred payment - including credit cards, invoices, buy-now-pay-later and loans from relatives - across all licensed operators and gambling intermediaries
Spelinspektionen measured channelisation of the competitive market at 84% for 2025 (down from 85% for 2024), on licensed turnover of SEK 28.2bn
Sources (7)
Not legal or tax advice. This is a teaching summary; confirm every figure against the primary regulator (Spelinspektionen (Swedish Gambling Authority)) before relying on it.