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Sovereign state
Europe
ISO NO
Review due

Norway: gambling regulation and licensing

Kingdom of Norway

  • Online casinoMonopoly
  • Online sports bettingMonopoly
  • Online pokerMonopoly
  • Horse race bettingMonopoly
  • iLotteryMonopoly
Regulator
Norwegian Gambling and Foundation Authority
Headline tax
Not yet verified
Licence required
Yes
Last verified
30 Aug 2026

Summary

Norway is one of the last full gambling monopolies in Western Europe. Under the Gambling Act (pengespilloven) of 18 March 2022, in force since 1 January 2023, Norsk Tipping AS and the holder of the horse-gambling licence, Norsk Rikstoto, hold the exclusive right to offer gambling, including online casino and online sports betting. There is no commercial licensing route for private or foreign operators, and no prospect of one under current policy. The Norwegian Gambling and Foundation Authority (Lottstift) supervises the two operators and enforces against offshore supply with an unusually broad toolkit: payment blocking in place since 2010, a ban on foreign-broadcast gambling advertising from 2021, and DNS blocking of illegal gambling websites introduced in 2025. Lottstift has also used coercive fines against offshore operators that continued to target Norwegian players, a practice that has been litigated rather than accepted quietly. Because there are no commercial licensees, Norway operates no competitive operator tax; the surplus of the monopoly operators is distributed instead under a statutory allocation to sport, culture and voluntary organisations. The monopoly is justified on player-protection grounds, and its durability depends on whether enforcement can keep offshore play at the margins.

Key facts

Regulator
Norwegian Gambling and Foundation Authority (Lottstift)
Regulator type
Dedicated regulator
Headline tax
Not yet verified
Licence required
Yes
Minimum age
18+
Tax base
Norway does not operate a competitive operator tax, because there are no commercial licensees. The surplus of the monopoly operators is distributed under the statutory allocation model rather than taxed as gambling duty. Operator-side rates are therefore left null here pending a Tier 1 figure.
Capital
Oslo
Currency
NOK
Official languages
Norwegian

Licensing

Licence required
Yes
Application window
Not yet verified
Local establishment required
Not yet verified
Local server required
Not yet verified
Barriers to entry
There is no commercial online licence in Norway. Authorisation to offer gambling rests with Norsk Tipping AS and Norsk Rikstoto by statute. A limited authorisation route exists for non-profit and charitable lotteries and similar small-scale activity, but national and foreign commercial operators cannot obtain a gambling licence.

Taxation

Headline GGR tax
Not yet verified
Effective date
Not yet verified
Player winnings tax
Winnings above NOK 10,000 that are treated as incidental prizes are taxable at 22 per cent, with exceptions for non-profit gambling and for income from professional gambling.
Tax base
Norway does not operate a competitive operator tax, because there are no commercial licensees. The surplus of the monopoly operators is distributed under the statutory allocation model rather than taxed as gambling duty. Operator-side rates are therefore left null here pending a Tier 1 figure.

Compliance

Minimum age
18+
National self-exclusion
Not yet verified
KYC requirements
Not yet verified
Stake limits
Not yet verified

Advertising

Advertising permitted
No
Affiliate rules
There is no licensed private operator to promote, so affiliate marketing of commercial gambling to Norwegian consumers is unlawful. Affiliates directing Norwegian players to offshore sites fall within the marketing prohibition.
Sponsorship rules
Sponsorship by unlicensed operators is prohibited alongside other marketing. Sponsorship visible in Norway through foreign broadcasts of sporting events has been a specific enforcement concern and is the practice the 2021 broadcast measures were aimed at.
Celebrity and influencer rules
Promotion of unlicensed gambling is prohibited regardless of who carries it, so influencer and celebrity promotion of offshore operators is unlawful rather than merely restricted.
Social media rules
Online and social media promotion of unlicensed gambling is prohibited. Enforcement has extended to DNS blocking of illegal gambling websites, introduced in 2025, alongside payment blocking in place since 2010.
Bonus advertising rules
Bonus promotion by unlicensed operators is prohibited as marketing. The monopoly operators are constrained by their responsible-channelling duty rather than by a competitive bonus regime.
Penalties for breach
Lottstift, the Norwegian Gambling and Foundation Authority, supervises the regime and can impose coercive fines on operators that continue to target Norwegian players, a power it has used against offshore operators and which has been litigated.

Restrictions

  • Norway is a monopoly market, so only Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto may lawfully market gambling to Norwegian consumers.
  • Marketing of gambling that is not licensed in Norway is prohibited under the Gambling Act (pengespilloven) of 18 March 2022, in force since 1 January 2023.
  • Since 2021 the authorities have been able to act against gambling advertising broadcast into Norway from abroad, closing the route by which offshore operators reached Norwegian viewers through foreign-registered channels.
  • The monopoly operators own marketing is constrained by their statutory duty to channel demand responsibly rather than to grow it.
  • Marketing must not target minors, and the minimum age for gambling is 18.

Enforcement

ISP blocking
Yes
DNS blocking
Yes
Payment blocking
Yes
App store takedowns
Not yet verified
Administrative penalties
Administrative orders and coercive fines imposed by the Authority.
Criminal penalties
Criminal penalties of up to three years imprisonment for breaches of the Act.
Operator liability
The Authority orders financial institutions to refuse transactions to identified accounts, requires blocking of merchant category code 7995, and since 2025 has ordered internet service providers to DNS-block unlicensed gambling websites. A ban on the distribution of gambling adverts broadcast from abroad came into force in 2021.

Outlook

The question that has run for years is whether Norway holds the monopoly or follows Sweden and now Finland into licensing. For the moment the direction of travel is the opposite: enforcement is tightening rather than loosening, with DNS blocking added to the existing payment-blocking regime. Watch the channelisation debate and any legislative proposal that would open the online verticals, plus how effective the new blocking powers prove against offshore supply.

Frequently asked questions

Can foreign operators get an online gambling licence in Norway?
No. The Gambling Act reserves the right to offer gambling to Norsk Tipping AS and Norsk Rikstoto. There is no commercial online licence.
Does Norway block unlicensed gambling sites?
Yes. Payment blocking has been in place since 2010 and the Gambling Authority introduced DNS blocking of illegal gambling websites in 2025.

iGT coverage of Norway

Dutch regulator braces for market turbulence with radical governance shakeup
Regulatory

Council of State Upholds the Dutch Retail Monopolies and Overturns JVH's Win

The Administrative Jurisdiction Division ruled on 16 September that the single-licence system for instant lotteries, retail sports betting and the lotto is a proportionate restriction on the free movement of services, that the East Brabant court used evidence it was not allowed to use, and that JVH's separate attack on Lotto BV's licence came too late. A second ruling the same day kept the charity lotteries at 69 draws a year.

Sources

  1. The Norwegian Gambling and Foundation Authority

    Lotteri- og stiftelsestilsynet

    Tier 1Accessed 4 Aug 2026
  2. Gambling in Norway

    Lotteri- og stiftelsestilsynet

    Tier 1Accessed 4 Aug 2026
  3. Lov om pengespill (pengespilloven), LOV-2022-03-18-12

    Lovdata (Norwegian official legal information)

    Tier 1Accessed 4 Aug 2026
  4. Gambling Laws and Regulations 2026 - Norway

    ICLG (International Comparative Legal Guides)

    Tier 3Accessed 4 Aug 2026

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This page is industry reference information and not legal advice.

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