Portugal with a Record-Breaking Online Gambling Revenue

Posted on: Mar 27, 2023. Last Updated on: Mar 27, 2023.

Author: Matthew Haynes Expertise: Football News, Transfer News, Sports Betting

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What Were the Key Figures?

Interestingly, the figures for Q4 in the country represented an increased trend from those of Q3, which stood at €139.8 million.

During Q4, revenue for online casinos reached €109.8 million, a figure that was a 48.3 percent increase, following a spending figure of €2.98 billion. Meanwhile, it was online slots made up 79.8 percent of online casino wagers, with online roulette (8.5 percent) and online blackjack (5.5 percent) second and third, respectively.

Meanwhile, it was online sports betting that accounted for one of the biggest increases, with this rising by 30 percent year-on-year, as revenue reached a figure of €85.5 million, courtesy of a €468.7 million sports betting handle.

As such, it was football made up 74.2 percent of this handle, with basketball accounting for 12.5 percent and tennis at 7.6 percent. Out off all the bets that were made, it was the FIFA Football World Cup in Qatar that was responsible for 25 percent of these.

Also, it could well have been this competition that was responsible for generating a percentage of the 340,000 new registrations, with various attractive welcome offers and promotions, with 60 percent of these being aged between 25 and 44.

From a responsible gambling perspective, it also seems that the regulator is doing a good job from an awareness standpoint, with self-exclusions up 41,500 year-on-year to 150,900 at the end of December.

Encouraging for the Portuguese Market

Over the last few years, online gambling popularity has started to increase at a rapid rate as more and more websites have gained approval – certainly, Betano being one of the favorites.

A country that has demonstrated a particular proclivity for sports betting - football in particular, as highlighted by interest in the World Cup, this represents good news for the Portuguese economy, with operators subject to 25 percent taxation payments.

While a lot of the interest in online gambling is courtesy of Portuguese nationals, there is a significant number of foreigners who reside in the country, many of which have higher levels of disposable income, and this could be one of the driving factors for an increase in gambling revenue over the last few months.

With more and more foreigners making the move to the Iberian country, this could well be a major influencing factor on gambling figures for the foreseeable future, and as a result, it could motivate more operators to apply for a license in the country.