After years of rapid growth, Portugal's online gambling market seems to be entering a relatively stable development phase. According to data released by the Gambling Regulation and Inspection Bureau (GAPS), the total revenue of online gambling in the first quarter of 2025 was 284.7 million euros (approximately 335.4 million US dollars), although there was a year-on-year increase of 9%, there was a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 12%. This is the first quarterly decline since the second quarter of 2022 and the largest single-quarter drop since 2018.
Despite the profit margin of sports betting remaining at 23%, supporting the overall performance, both the online casino and sports betting segments experienced quarter-on-quarter declines. Online casino revenue was 169.7 million euros, accounting for 60% of total revenue, up 6% year-on-year but down 8% quarter-on-quarter; online sports betting revenue was 114.9 million euros, up 14% year-on-year but down 17% from the previous quarter, marking the largest quarterly drop since 2022.
Ricardo Domingues, chairman of the Portuguese Online Gambling Association (APAJO), pointed out that this trend reflects the market's maturity and emphasized: "We calmly view the changes and focus more on how to maintain the legal market share under the threat of illegal gambling."
Despite the decline in revenue, user activity continues to grow. The number of active online accounts increased by 7% quarter-on-quarter, reaching 4.8 million. Meanwhile, the government obtained 82.7 million euros in online gambling taxes, achieving its fiscal target for the environmental fund.
Since the legalization of online gambling in Portugal in 2015, it has entered its tenth year, with 30 licensed institutions (13 offering sports betting, 17 operating online casinos). In 2024, the total revenue of Portugal's online gambling market reached a record 1.11 billion euros, a significant increase from the previous year's 845 million euros. Now, as the growth rate slows, the industry may enter a new phase of rational development.
