Gambling is a major part of the entertainment industry in Denmark. It has been seeing continuous growth and recently, showed an increase year on year from February 2023 to February 2024.

Information gathered by the Danish Tax Agency reveals that there has been an 18.3% increase in Gross Gaming Revenue within the period between February 2023 and February 2024. The GGR is 78.69 million mainly attributed to lower RTP.

Gambling operators provided the information. More so, it includes statistics on responsible gambling gathered from two contributors.

The two contributors are the Register of Self-Excluded Gamblers (ROFUS) and StopSpillet which are core to managing problem gambling in Denmark.

The information can be subdivided into three sections which are Gross Gambling Revenue (GGR), channels and responsible gambling.

Three Categories

GGR

The main categories of gaming covered are online casinos, betting, gaming machines and land-based casinos.

Sports betting and online casinos took the lion’s share of the gambling revenue. Sports betting accounts for 30.2% of the GGR while online casinos took a whopping 47.3%. Gaming machines took 16.9% while land-based took 5.4%.

Sports betting had the most significant increase at 32.5%. The revenue increased from DKK 134 to DKK 178. Online casinos increased from DKK 234 to DKK 278.

Gaming machines increased from DKK 98 to 100 showing a 1.85% increase and finally, land based from DKK 30 to 32, a 7% increase. 

Channels

Channels were divided into three channels which are mobile, desktop and retail. Desktop accounted for 38.8% of bets of sports betting and online casino while mobile accounted for 61.1% of bets.

For sports betting, mobile dominated as well with 65.6% while desktop accounted for 24.1%. Retail accounted for 10.19% with the lowest share for sports betting.

Responsible gambling

The statistics for problem gambling revealed that men are the majority when it comes to self-excluded gamblers. They account for 77.20% while women account for 22.76%.

The number of problem gamblers remained relatively stable year over year. The number increased from 46152 to 48685.

StopSpillet, a problem gambler hotline introduced in 2019, revealed that men between the ages of 18 years and 35 years were the majority of callers. The number of inquiries during the period of the study is 2933.

It also revealed that there were three categories of callers, problem gamblers, relatives and professionals. The problem gamblers that inquired accounted for 1650 of the inquiries while the relatives accounted for 1150, 56% and 40% respectively.

The remaining 4% were professional gamblers.

67% of the calls were from people struggling with online casinos and online betting. Physical casinos and physical slots were 20% of the callers and the rest fell under poker and land-based casinos.

More statistics on the age when first bets were placed. The legal age for gambling in Denmark is 18 years.

The research from November 2023 found that 88% of callers placed their first bet at 25 or younger. 50% were before they turned 17 years old. 4% of calls were under 18 years old.

Summary

The research provides insight into the gambling industry in Denmark for the different categories including responsible gambling. The results can give a guide to policymaking for gambling in Denmark to increase its safety, value and efficiency.