Online gambling revenue in Portugal amounted to a record €205.9m (£179.1m/$217.5m) in the second quarter, driven by growth within the internet casino segment.
Revenue was comfortably higher than €145.2m in Q2 of 2022. The figure was also up 4.9% on the existing record of €196.4m set in Q1 this year.
Online games of chance accounted for €122.0m of all revenue in the quarter, up 51.6% on last year. This was a new record for the segment, according to regulator the Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ).
Players spent €3.24bn on internet casino games during Q1, another new record for Portugal. Slot machines drew 82.5% of all online casino spend, with French roulette at 7.6% and then blackjack on 5.4%.
Turning to sports betting, revenue in this sector reached €84.0m, up 29.8% on 2022 but a slight drop from Q1 this year.
Consumer spending on sports betting reached €357.6m during the quarter. This was 17.1% more than the same period last year but 19.0% lower than in Q2. It was also the second consecutive quarter of decline in Portugal.
Football accounted for 68.4% of all sports bets in Q2. Some 20.1% of bets were placed on tennis, 7.4% basketball and 4.1% other sports.
Online self-exclusions in Portugal top 181,600
The SRIJ also published data on players who have self-excluded from online gambling. By the end of Q2, some 181,600 people had blocked themselves from gambling with licensed sites in Portugal.
A total of 33,800 people opted to self-exclude during the quarter.
As for new account registrations with licensed operators, this amounted to 190,200 in Q2. This meant by the end of the quarter, some 3.8 million people held an online gambling account with SRIJ-approved websites.
Land-based gambling revenue also rises in Q2
Turning to the land-based sector and revenue amounted to €66.8m in Q2, an increase of 6.8% on last year.
Of this total, €49.6m came from physical slot machines, up 1.8% from the previous year. The other €17.2m was generated by casino-style and bingo games, up 24.4% year-on-year.
American roulette drew €6.1m in revenue during the quarter, with baccarat’s share at €5.1m and blackjack €6.1m.