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Norway has spent the past three years tightening its grip on gambling. Advertising bans, bank transfer blocks, DNS restrictions and aggressive enforcement against foreign operators have all been rolled out in the name of consumer protection. Yet the numbers tell an uncomfortable story: the population of Norwegians at risk of gambling addiction has surged.
According to annual population surveys conducted by Kantar on behalf of Norsk Tipping, the number of moderate-risk and problem gamblers rose from 188,000 in 2021 to 269,000 in 2024. That is an increase of 81,000 people in just three years—growth that cuts directly against the stated goals of Norway’s gambling policy.
The figures draw a clear distinction between two groups. Moderate-risk players are those whose gambling behaviour increases the likelihood of addiction, while problem gamblers already exhibit dependency. Both groups are growing, and both are increasingly young.
A Model Under Pressure
Norway operates under one of Europe’s strictest gambling frameworks: an exclusive monopoly dominated by state-owned Norsk Tipping. The system is designed to limit harm by restricting supply, controlling game design, and funnelling profits into sports and cultural causes.
The Minister of Culture has acknowledged the seriousness of the rising figures and signalled the need for new preventive measures. At the same time, the government has doubled down on its commitment to the monopoly, arguing that opening the market to more operators would intensify competition and worsen harm.
Critics, however, argue that the data suggests the opposite. Among them is gambling investor Morten Klein, who claims the current policy protects state revenues more effectively than vulnerable players. He points to the rapid growth in risky behaviour—particularly among younger demographics—as evidence that the exclusive model is failing to adapt to how gambling actually works in 2024.
Klein’s position is controversial. He owns a diversified investment group with interests spanning gambling technology, slot machines and online gaming companies, including a significant stake in a Swedish operator valued at around one billion Norwegian kroner. While this background fuels scepticism about his motives, it does not invalidate the core policy question he raises: is Norway regulating the market it wants, or the market that no longer exists?
The Offshore Reality
Despite extensive blocking measures, gambling has not disappeared—it has moved. Norsk Tipping’s own figures show that nearly half of all online casino players in Norway use unregulated foreign operators. This undermines one of the monopoly’s core assumptions: that most gambling activity can be channelled into a controlled, domestic system.
Supporters of a licensing model argue that legalising and regulating more operators would allow authorities to monitor gambling behaviour across platforms, rather than pushing players into opaque offshore ecosystems. Countries such as Sweden and Denmark have adopted this approach, introducing centralized self-exclusion systems that block access across all licensed operators simultaneously.
Under Norway’s current system, such a unified overview is impossible. Each blocked website, each restricted payment route, is a reactive measure aimed at closing loopholes after players have already found them.
Young Players, Blurred Lines
One of the most troubling trends in the data is the age profile of new risk gamblers. The increase is particularly pronounced among young men, many of whom encounter gambling-like mechanics long before they ever place a real-money bet.
Loot boxes, in-game purchases and reward-based progression systems have steadily eroded the boundary between gaming and gambling. This convergence has prompted growing concern among public health organisations, which warn that children are being conditioned to accept gambling behaviours as normal entertainment.
Last week, a coalition of 12 organisations formally urged the government to ban loot boxes, arguing that they function as an entry point into gambling addiction. The Minister of Culture has responded by announcing plans to submit a proposal by October aimed at prohibiting these mechanics.
Help Services at Capacity
While the political debate continues, support services are already feeling the strain. Gambling Addiction Norway reports year-on-year growth in people seeking help, with a noticeable drop in the average age of those reaching out. The organisation is approaching its operational limits.
Despite this, Gambling Addiction Norway has concluded that the monopoly remains the least harmful option—provided it is significantly strengthened. Their position is that fewer operators are easier to supervise, but only if those operators deliver best-in-class responsible gambling tools and interventions.
This conditional support highlights a crucial point: the monopoly is not being defended as perfect, but as preferable under the right conditions.
A Policy at a Crossroads
More than 2.5 million Norwegians—over half the adult population—gamble online or via mobile devices. In that context, the debate is no longer about whether gambling exists, but about how visible and governable it is.
Norway now faces a choice between refining its exclusive model to better reflect digital reality, or reassessing whether strict exclusion is inadvertently driving vulnerable players further out of reach. The data suggests that doing nothing is no longer an option.
As the number of risk players continues to rise, the central question remains unanswered: is Norway protecting gamblers from harm—or protecting a system that no longer protects them?
Source: nrk.no
