Denmark's iPoker Market Expected To Decline 7.7% In 2014

According to the latest figures released by Danish gambling authority Spillemyndigheden, Denmark’s online poker market contracted in the second quarter of 2014 to just $7,186,231, down from the $8,982,789 generated in Q2 2013, and the $9,881,067 in Q2 2012. Following 2014’s second quarter results being announced, the gambling authority has now put its estimate for the country’s online poker market at around $32,338,040 for the whole year, which would represent a 7.7% decrease compared to the previous year, and an 18.2% decrease compared to 2012.
The results are even more concerning when one considers that in 2012 Denmark’s online gambling industry had been lauded for its legislation and held up as a solid model for other European jurisdictions to follow. Part of that original appeal was the strong stance the Danish authorities took against unregulated gambling sites in the country, and its use of domestic internet providers to impose systemized crackdowns on illegitimate websites.
Unfortunately, its strong system doesn’t seem to have protected its online poker market from the recent declines currently affecting the online gambling industry across the whole of Europe’s regulated markets.
Casino games in general, however, provided some cause for optimism with revenues improving by 12.5% to $48,507,060 in the second quarter of 2014 from the $43,117,387 generated in the same period in 2013. In addition, Denmark’s betting market also returned positive growth, spurned on by the 2014 FIFA World Cup which helped return the highest volumes yet seen since the market was first regulated. As a result, the country’s betting market rose to $79,946,822 in Q2 2014, up by 33% compared to the $60,184,686 generated in the same quarter of 2013.
Denmark’s seven brick-and-mortar casinos also fared well, earning $15.2 million in Q2, breaking a pattern of five quarters of declining growth.
Denmark is situated in Northern Europe and like most Nordic countries enjoys a high standard of living with its 5.6 million citizens often ranked as the happiest in the world. The country also enjoys one of the world’s highest per capita incomes, but at the same time it also has one of the world’s highest personal income tax rates.