In the spring of 2026, around 465,000 Swedish households were estimated to have access to illegal IPTV, or about one in ten households, according to the analyst firm Mediavision.
Compared with around 640,000 households in the spring of 2025, it was a decrease of about 175,000 households or 27%.
The survey does not show what is behind the decreasing ownership. One possible explanation is the increased attention around illegal IPTV, where the connection to the criminal economy and the need for political measures have received greater space in the public debate.
“We cannot determine why use is decreasing, but the increased attention may have affected consumer attitudes,” said Adrian Grande, analyst at Mediavision. “More people may have become aware that illegal IPTV is not a harmless low-cost alternative and what the money risks financing. This may be a contributing explanation for the decline.
Despite the decrease, the economic scale remains significant. Households with illegal IPTV state that they pay an average of around SEK 171 per month. Based on the number of households, the payments are estimated to correspond to almost SEK 80 million per month and almost SEK 1 billion on an annual basis.
Mediavision defines illegal IPTV as paid services offering extensive packages of TV channels and content from various streaming services without license.
Survey methodology
Mediavision’s annual market estimate is based on the number of households with illegal IPTV and their self-reported average expenditure, converted to an annual basis.
Mediavision conducts online interviews with 6,700 respondents aged 15–74 twice a year in the Nordic region. The data from the survey consists of self-estimated values from a nationally representative sample. Mediavision’s survey measures households’ access to and expenditure on illegal IPTV. It does not map which actors receive the payments.
Bigger picture
In August, Mediavision announced that growth in streaming subscriptions in Sweden in the second quarter of 2026 came to a halt, after more than two years of uninterrupted growth. The slowdown follows a period in which cheaper ad-supported subscriptions fueled a new wave of growth in the market. Now the trend points toward the next phase, where customer profitability and loyalty are becoming increasingly important.
Why it matters
“(Consumer usage of illegal IPTV) is going in the right direction, but the level is still alarmingly high. Illegal IPTV undermines the legal market, erodes the financing of film, television and sports and at the same time risks contributing to the criminal economy. It is not only a problem for the media industry, but for society at large, says Adrian Grande.
Further reading
Mediavision: Illegal IPTV is decreasing – but Swedish households still pay close to one billion kronor a year. Press release. September 1, 2026. Mediavision
Sweden’s streaming growth cools, a signal of what’s next for the Nordics. Press release. August 26, 2026. Mediavision
