Gambling problems halved in Norway thanks to successful policy

Finland’s gambling monopoly has been criticised and challenged in recent years. One proposed solution is to switch from Veikkaus Oy’s monopoly system to a licence system. Of our reference countries, Norway has not switched to a licence model but it has successfully developed its own monopoly system.

The number of gambling problems has halved in Norway since 2019, and people in Norway play less gambling games outside the monopoly system than before. High-risk gambling has also reduced. This is revealed in a new Norwegian population survey conducted by the University of Bergen.

Norway has further developed its monopoly system

Norway has, among other things, introduced further measures for blocking payment transactions to prevent gambling outside the monopoly system, and it has also restricted the marketing of gambling games by the monopoly operator Norsk Tipping and illegal operators. As a result of these restrictions, there is less gambling advertising in all channels. 

Norway has also restricted the availability of gambling and tightened the loss limit restrictions on games run by Norsk Tipping. The loss limit restrictions specify the maximum daily and monthly loss limits for the players of games run by Norsk Tipping.

“A recent population survey conducted in Norway shows that gambling problems can be substantially reduced by developing the monopoly system. Finland could also proceed by first assessing and introducing new restrictive measures and then considering whether the gambling system needs to be amended,” says Permanent Secretary Veli-Mikko Niemi of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

Of all games played, the proportion of legal gambling games has increased

The amount of money spent on gambling outside the monopoly system has decreased from EUR 600 million to EUR 200 million in Norway. This is evident from a recent estimate made by H2 Gambling Capital. This means that Norway has succeeded in directing gambling more towards legal gambling games.

“One major criticism of the monopoly system is that, because of it, a significant amount of money is lost due to gambling outside the system. That said, it appears that gambling outside the monopoly system has reduced considerably in Norway as a result of developing the system,” says Senior Specialist Mari Pajula of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.  

“It is also worth noting for Finland that switching to a licence system is said to bring additional revenue to the state. In reality, the government revenue from gambling is much lower in the licence system than in the monopoly system, and it is likely that the government revenue would not increase in the licence system,” says Pajula.

Inquiries:

Mari Pajula, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 163 040, firstname.lastname(at)gov.fi