SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Gambling as a market in Denmark has grown by 5.4% throughout 2024, according to national regulator Spillemyndigheden.
Out of five gambling categories, three saw an YoY increase compared to the previous year, for a total GGR of DKK 11bn (2023: DKK 10.4bn), or £1.25bn when converted with the exchange rate as of today, 2 May.
Anders Dorph, Director of Spillemyndigheden, said: “In this report, we have collected the most important figures on the gambling market for the year and compare back to 2012, when the Danish gambling market was partially liberalised.”
Online casino generated the highest revenue, going from DKK 3.1bn in 2023 to DKK 3.5bn by the end of 2024.
Despite a more modest success, land-based casinos also saw an increase in GGR, reaching DKK 368m in 2024 (2023: DKK 376m).
It is interesting to track how the former outperformed the latter in a matter of years thanks to a graph provided in Spillemyndigheden’s report.
Denmark opened up its market to international presence in 2012, when land-based held more than 50% of the market compared to the 31% of online. This difference kept melting away until in a matter of just five years, the two market shares were equalled in 2017. Skip forward to 2024, online now holds 68% compared to the 35% of land-based.
Going back to the segment breakdown, lotteries experienced a slightly lower rate of growth, but remain the highest GGR contributor in Denmark. A total of DKK 3.5bn was made by the segment in 2023, while in 2024 that number rose to DKK 3.7bn.
Betting was slightly on the decline, but retained a strong market value regardless with its GGR of DKK 2.2bn. Gaming machines were the other segment where a GGR drop could be seen, raking in DKK 29m less in 2024.
The market’s total GGR of DKK 11bn flew by close to the 2018 record of DKK 11.4bn since the liberalisation of Denmark’s gambling regime in 2012. Player spend was not far off the record either, with the average being DKK 2,280 in 2024 compared to the 12-year record of DKK 2,459 in 2018.
Channelisation rates for online play remain exceptionally high, reaching 91.5% for the full 2024 – a record percentage thanks to a constant growth across the 12-year period since liberalisation.
As a result, players who are active within the licensed Danish market enjoy access to better RG tools, such as Denmark’s national self-exclusion scheme ROFUS.
The record channelisation rates corresponded to a record ROFUS registrants, reaching 55,899 in 2024. As of 1 January 2025, the largest group of registered players were men between the ages of 20 and 29 (29.9%).
