Statistics of gambling by Finnish people
Finns are active gamblers. In 2013 Finns lost a total of 1,7 million euro in games provided by RAY, Veikkaus and Fintoto. There are no exact figures of the amounts spent on games operated by foreign gaming operators, but according to different evaluations Finnish losses in these games are around 100-300 million euro.
The highest assessment is given by the British consulting company H2 Gambling Capital, which estimated Finnish gambling losses to over 2 billion euro for 2013 in an article published in the magazine ”Economist”. There are no exact data of the revenue of the gambling industry. Nevertheless, the revenue is multiple compared to losses of the players or the profits of the gaming operators.
Finnish gambling has been summarized twice: in the years 2009 and 2012. The Finnish gaming system and gaming policy, the frequency and surveillance of gambling, returns and statistics as well as the changes between years 2008 and 2001 is described in the most recent Yearbook of Finnish Gambling 2012 (Suomalaisen rahapelaamisen vuosikirja 2012) .
According to the report:
In 2011 the profits of the gaming operators (the losses of the players) were 1620, 7 million €.
Altogether 917,5 million € (+ 161,7 million € in taxes) were distributed for common good.
A Finnish adult spent on average 376,4 € on domestic gaming: 193,2 € on games operated by Veikkaus, 171,3 € on games operated by RAY and 12,0 € on games operated by Finntoto.
In 2009 the profit of the gaming operators were 1468,8 million €: gambling has grown roughly 10 % within a couple of years.
The exact total consumption on gambling is not known, because Finns do also gamble on foreign gaming websites and through own illegal betting.
Source material:
Yearbook of Finnish Gambling 2012
The Lotteries Act
Suomalaisten rahapelaaminen 2011 (2012). (THL). Raportti 14/2012.