Published: February 10, 2021

The Danish Gambling market increases in Q4 2020 compared to 2019

The Danish Gambling Authority’s most recent quarterly statistics show that the gross gaming revenue (GGR) of betting, online casino, gaming machines and land-based casinos increased by 6.6 % in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, cf.

figure 1. Figure 1. GGR of gambling market Q4 2020 and percentage changes compared to Q4 2019.

Source: Data on gambling duties submitted by licence holders to the Danish Tax Agency Land-based gambling affected by corona lockdown It is not all gambling sectors that have seen a rise in Q4 2020.

In December 2020, restaurants, gambling arcades and land-based casinos were closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

This contributed to a fall in the GGR of 20.3 and 23.1 percent for gaming machines and land-based casinos respectively in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

February 2021 Side 2 Betting reached greatest yet GGR of one quarter The betting and online casino markets saw a growth in Q4 2020. Betting set a record when the quarter with its DKK 724 million in GGR became the quarter with the highest GGR ever seen in Denmark.

This was an increase of 16.5 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. The cause of the rise in GGR may be a packed autumn football programme.

There have been more matches to place bets on than usually in that time of year because the football season began later in 2020 compared to previous years due to the corona situation.

However, the increase in Q4 must also be viewed in the light of a great loss on the betting market earlier the same year, where many sports events were cancelled or moved because of the corona crisis. In fact, the GGR falls by 8.5 percent overall in 2020 compared to 2019.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, the online casino market also grew as the GGR increased by 16.3 percent compared to the same period in 2019. Whether the rise is caused by the corona lockdown of Denmark is uncertain. Overall, in 2020, the GGR increased by 5 percent compared to 2019, which must be considered in the light of a continual, annual growth in the online casino market since the liberalisation of the gambling market in 2012. However, the increase in 2020 is the lowest annual growth in percent recorded.

More statistics available on Spillemyndigheden.dk/en More figures on the Danish gambling market are available in the quarterly statistics, which can be found on the Danish Gambling Authority’s website. They are released in a Power BI report, where statistics are presented on interactive dashboards that allows the user to select and filter for example by period of time. It is central to the Danish Gambling Authority to closely monitor the development in the gambling market. This enables an efficient and effective supervision of the gambling operators, which ensures a fair and responsible gambling market in Denmark.

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