Gross online gambling revenue in Portugal hit €266.3 million (£220.9 million/$273.8 million) during Q3. This surpasses Q3 of 2023 by 23.7% and the previous quarterly record, set in Q2 2024, by 1.7%.

Online casino revenue hits record €175.1 million

Data from regulator Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ) shows this growth was driven by the online casino segment. Here, gross revenue hiked 31.2% year-on-year to an all-time high of €175.1 million. This also surpassed Q2 revenue by 10.5%.

Spending on internet-based casino games hit €4.87 billion in Q3, another new record and a 33.7% increase from 2023, as well as 11.6% higher than Q2.

As has been the case for some time, slots remain by far the online casino game of choice in Portugal. Slots drew 80.4% of all wagers during Q3, ahead of French roulette on 6.1%, the dice game French Bank at 5.5% and blackjack on 4.5%.

Sports betting revenue down quarter-on-quarter

While the online casino market continues to see steady growth, the SRIJ noted a decline in the sports betting segment.

For Q3, revenue from online sports betting totalled €91.2 million. This beats the previous year by 11.4% but falls 11.7% short of the €103.3 million reported in Q2 of 2024.

Spending on sports betting climbed 23.8% year-on-year to €483.4 million. Interestingly, this is also 4.6% higher than in Q2 but was not enough to push revenue up from the preceding quarter.

Football drew 72.7% of all online sports bets in Portugal during Q3. Tennis ranked second on 21.2%, while the remaining 6.1% was split across other sports.

More than 4.5 million players gamble online in Portugal

Looking now to player behaviour in Q3, some 4.5 million people gambled online during the quarter. This is a 16.9% increase from the same period in 2023 and also 3.4% ahead of Q2.

Some 269,800 new registrations were reported in Q3 while 117,400 players cancelled their online gambling accounts. The 25 to 34 age group remains the most active online with 34.3% of all registered players. However, the group with the largest percentage of new registrations in Q3 (30.9%) was players aged 18 to 24.

Some 47,600 players opted to self-exclude during the quarter while 28,600 users reached the end of their exclusion period. As such, the total number of consumers excluded by the end of Q3 was 276,200, a 40.5% year-on-year rise.

In addition, regulator SRIJ noted it issued 47 closure notifications to websites deemed to be operating in breach of regulations.

Signs of improvement for land-based gambling

Turning now to the land-based sector, where gross revenue in Q3 hit €75.9 million. This is just 0.3% behind the previous year and 19.1% above Q2 of 2024.

Physical slot machines again drew the most revenue at €56.1 million, though this was 2% lower year-on-year. The remaining €19.9m came from casino-style and bingo games, a rise of 4.9%.

American roulette was the main revenue source in the latter category at €7.1 million, a rise of 22.8%. The SRIJ also saw increases across blackjack and poker.