Sweden’s domestic gambling operators struggled mightily in 2018, the final year before the market opened up to international online competitors.

Figures released this week by Sweden’s Spelinspektionen regulatory body show the country’s overall gambling market was worth SEK23.4b (US$2.5b) in 2018, a modest 1.5% gain over 2017’s result. Online revenue was up 12.2% last year – online casino up 13.7% and sports betting up 11.5% — accounting for 52% of the overall total, while land-based operations fell nearly 8%.

Sweden’s domestic operators claimed the bulk (SEK16.7b) of 2018’s revenue pie, but this represented a 2.3% year-on-year decline. The state-owned former betting monopoly Svenska Spel reported sales falling 2.2% to SEK8.8b, as a one-fifth rise in online revenue failed to offset the nearly 10% decline in the firm’s land-based operations.

Similarly, the ATG horseracing betting monopoly reported overall sales of SEK4.1b, a 1.5% year-on-year decline. ATG’s land-based operations were down 10.7%, while online activity rose 5.2%.