Portugal online gambling market begins to slow in Q1 2025 after last year’s record numbers
Portugal’s online gambling gross revenue dropped quarter-on-quarter for the first time in almost three years for Q1 2025, with the market showing signs of levelling off after consistent growth.
Data published by the Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service showed online gambling gross revenue of €284.7 million ($335.4 million) for the quarter. This was up 9% year-on-year and was driven by sports betting margins, which were 23% for the quarter.
Run of growth comes to an end
However, the total was down from the record €323 million posted for Q4 2024. It is the first time the market has reported a quarter-on-quarter decrease since Q2 2022 and at 12% was the largest percentage drop compared to a previous quarter since 2018.
Online casino gross revenue made up 60% of the total with €169.7 million, up 6% year-on-year and down 8% quarter-on-quarter.
Online sports betting gross revenue also produced a modest increase, with the €114.9 million total being up 14% year-on-year. This total was down 17% compared to the previous quarter though, marking the largest quarter-on-quarter drop in this field since 2022.
Market maturation
Ricardo Domingues, board chairman for the industry trade body Portuguese Online Betting and Gambling Association (APAJO), said the signs of deceleration in the market are “something natural in a market that is maturing. We face these variations calmly and our main concern continues to be being able to absorb demand in the face of the threat from illegal operators.”
Despite the drop in gross revenue, the number of active online gambling accounts in Portugal went up 7% from the previous quarter to 4.8 million.
Portugal’s government collected €82.7 million in online gambling tax for the quarter, which APAJO said was in line with the government’s target for its Environmental Fund.
A decade in operation
Portugal’s regulated online gambling market has now been live for more than a decade, with online gambling being signed into law in April 2015.
The market has since grown to 30 licensees, with 13 in online sports betting and 17 in online casino.
Last year, the market generated gross revenue of €1.11 billion, which was a considerable increase on the €845 million posted for 2023.