iGaming in Portugal: the number of users has exceeded 4.5 million people, with players spending over 5 billion euros on gambling
The Portuguese gambling regulator (SRIJ) shared the latest data on the legal online gambling market in the third quarter of 2024. We have highlighted the key points from the report.
What is the legal online gambling landscape in Portugal?
For a decade, Portugal has had a structured and transparent legal system that covers virtually every iGaming segment — whether it be poker, baccarat, French roulette, sports betting, horse racing, or other games. Each segment is strictly regulated by individual legislative acts.
The enforcement of these acts is controlled by the regulatory body, the Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service, established under the Tourism Board (SRIJ).
Part of the SRIJ’s responsibilities includes licensing operators. A single permit is issued for the online sector, valid for three years. According to current data, a candidate company must pay fees of 20,000 euros and an additional roughly two thousand euros for each type of gambling.
Furthermore, when applying, an operator must provide financial guarantees totaling 600,000 euros.
For online gambling, there is a special gaming tax (IEJO). It imposes an obligation on organizations offering online casino services to contribute 25% of their GGR (gross gaming revenue) to the country's budget. However, the law is more lenient on sports and horse race betting, with the tax rate set at 8% of GGR.
It is notable that Portugal closely monitors compliance with laws surrounding the online gambling industry. Since 2015, SRIJ has recorded 1,330 cases of illegal operator activity within the country. At the regulator's request, internet providers blocked 2,150 illegal websites. During this time, 38 criminal cases were initiated against violators.
Current state of the online sector
- The quarterly gross gaming revenue (GGR) of the iGaming sector in Portugal for July-September reached 266.3 million euros. This is a 23.7% increase compared to the same period last year.
- Online casinos generated 65.7% of the total revenue — 175.1 million euros. Revenue from this segment increased by 31.2% compared to 2023.
- Sports betting contributed the remaining 34.3% of revenue — 91.2 million euros, marking an 11.4% year-on-year growth.
- The GGR distribution in online casinos is as follows: slots — 80.4%, classic roulette — 6.1%, baccarat — 5.5%, blackjack — 4.5%, crash games — 1.8%, and poker — 1.5%.
- In sports betting, most funds were generated from football (72.7%) and tennis (21.2%). The most popular football events among players were the Portuguese Championship (Primeira Liga), the Spanish Championship (La Liga), and international competitions — UEFA Euro 2024 and the UEFA Champions League. In tennis, the US Open and Wimbledon Open were popular.
- In the third quarter, the total amount of player deposits reached 5.35 billion euros. Of this, 4.874 billion euros (+33.7% YoY) went to online casinos and 483.4 million euros (+23.8% YoY) to betting.
- The total number of registered users surpassed 4.58 million people (+16.9% YoY).
- The average number of active users per month was 1.2 million (+27.8% YoY).
- During the period analyzed, players created 269,800 new accounts, while 117,400 accounts were canceled due to self-exclusion by players and other reasons.
- 78.7% of all users are players under the age of 45. The most frequent registration of new accounts was among players aged 18 to 24 — they accounted for 30.9% of all new accounts.
- The amount of tax revenue from companies engaged in online gambling was 82.6 million euros (+27.5% YoY).
- Currently, there are 17 official operator companies in Portugal that have received 30 licenses, with 13 licenses for sports betting and 17 for online casinos.
