Portugal’s regulated online gambling sector continued its upward trajectory in the second quarter of 2025, with licensed operators generating €287 million (approximately $337 million) in gross revenue.
The latest figures released by the Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service (Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos – SRIJ) mark a 9.6 percent increase compared to the same quarter of 2024, while the Special Online Gaming Tax (IEJO) added €81.2 million to state coffers during the period.
Seventeen licensed online gambling operators held a combined thirty active licenses at the end of Q2.
Breaking down Portugal’s online gambling industry performance in Q2 2025
Games of fortune remained the dominant driver of market growth, contributing 62 percent of total revenue at €177.8 million, a 12.2% year-on-year rise. Betting volumes in this segment reached €5.04 billion, climbing 15.4 percent annually and eight percent quarter-on-quarter.
Slot machines continued to lead player preferences, accounting for 79.1 percent of wagers, followed by French banking games (seven percent) and French roulette (5.3 percent).
Sports betting generated €109.2 million in revenue, representing 38 percent of the market. While this figure was up 5.7 percent compared to Q2 2024, it was 5 percent lower than Q1 2025.
Betting volume in sports reached €457.3 million, reflecting a 1.1 percent annual decline and an 8.9 percent sequential drop. Football remained the most popular sport for betting activity, representing 67.7 percent of wagers, with tennis (21.8 percent) and basketball (6.5 percent) trailing behind.
While traditional sports betting still dominates, Portuguese operators are increasingly offering odds on popular esports titles such as CS2, League of Legends, and VALORANT.
By the end of the quarter, total player registrations stood at 4.87 million, a 9.9 percent increase year-on-year. Around 211,000 new accounts were created during the three-month period, although the number of active players declined slightly by 2.6 percent to 1.12 million.
Players aged 25 to 34 formed the largest age group at 33.5 percent, while 77.8 percent of all registered users were under 45.
Geographically, Lisbon and Porto districts accounted for the highest concentration of registrations at 21.7 percent and 21.1 percent respectively. Portuguese nationals represented 94.6 percent of total players, with Brazilians making up 49 percent of all international registrations.
Self-exclusion continued to rise sharply, with 326,400 individuals opting into the system by the end of Q2, a 27 percent increase compared to the same quarter in 2024.
Meanwhile, regulators intensified enforcement actions against unlicensed operators. Authorities issued 97 closure notifications and blocked 110 unauthorized gambling websites during the quarter.
Since the introduction of Portugal’s Online Gambling and Betting Legal Framework in 2015, regulators have delivered 1,522 closure notifications, blocked 2,501 illegal sites, and referred 49 cases to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, including one in Q2 2025.
Published: Sep 9, 2025 02:00 am