Gambling problems among teenage boys have doubled in four years, Swedish report finds

“Everything indicates that if you have a gambling problem at an early age, you will have one later too,” says Johan Svensson, an investigator at the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN).

Gambling among schoolchildren began to increase in 2019, the same year the Swedish gambling market was reshaped. The previous gambling monopoly was replaced by a system allowing licensed companies to operate in Sweden.

“It may be a coincidence, but we should remember that before the market was deregulated, the gambling industry ran massive advertising campaigns to acquire customers. That may explain the increase,” says Johan Svensson.

Opposing trends

Gambling for money is still less common among schoolchildren than among adults, but it is becoming more common. Among adults, the trend is going in the opposite direction, according to a new report from CAN. The proportion of adults who gambled for money in the past year fell from 70 to 50 percent between 2004 and 2024.

There is a clear gender difference. Among adults, six percent of men and one percent of women have gambling problems. In ninth grade, ten percent of boys have gambling problems, compared with 14 percent of boys in upper secondary school. The figures are one percent for girls in both ninth grade and upper secondary school.

Gambling problems mean having difficulty controlling how much money and time you spend gambling.

“It is not certain, but there is a risk that you will rack up lifelong debts at a very young age,” says Johan Svensson.

How can young people gamble for money when the law sets the age limit at 18?

Unregulated grey area

He points out that unlicensed companies market themselves to young people. Even games from licensed companies, which enforce the age limit more strictly, can be accessed using the accounts of parents or older friends.

Many computer games have features similar to gambling - so-called loot boxes and skins. Johan Svensson calls this an unregulated grey area.

“International studies indicate that those who use these features more often are more likely to engage in risky gambling. There seems to be a connection between the two.”