Portugals internet gambling income rose by 24.7% annually in the final three months of the year. The Gaming Inspection and Regulation Bureau (SRIJ), Portugals gambling authority, has reported that internet gambling revenue in the last quarter of 2021 increased by 24.7% compared to the same period a year ago.
Revenue for the three-month period ending December 31, 2021, was €141.1 million (£121.0 million/$150.7 million), a 24.7% increase from €113.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. This is also a 23.6% increase compared to the €114.2 million in the third quarter.
Internet casino revenue for the period reached €75.3 million, up 53.3% from €49.1 million in the last quarter of 2020, while online sports betting income also saw a modest increase of 2.6% to €65.8 million.
In terms of consumer spending, total internet casino wagers in the fourth quarter were €2.1 billion, up 17.8% annually, while online sports betting also increased by 26.9% to €3.773 billion.
Slot machines were the most popular form of internet casino game among players, accounting for 78.3% of all bets in the final quarter, followed by French roulette at 9.4% of bets, and then blackjack at 5.1%.
In online sports betting, 77.3% of wagers in the quarter were placed on football, with basketball coming in second at 11.5% of total bets, followed by tennis at 6.6%. The remaining 4.6% of internet bets were distributed across other sports.
The SRIJ report reveals that internet casinos and athletic wagering saw a surge of 212,600 fresh accounts in the final three months of the year, a decline of 27.6% compared to the same timeframe last year. By December 31st, a total of 109,400 individuals had voluntarily excluded themselves from all forms of regulated internet gambling.
Moreover, the SRIJ also declared that they prohibited access to an additional 119 unauthorized websites in the final quarter and commanded another 34 websites to halt their operations within the nation.
Meanwhile, the SRIJ also unveiled figures for the nation’s regulated land-based gambling industry in the final quarter, which witnessed a 61.3% year-on-year increase in revenue to €58.1 million.
Of this total revenue, €46.3 million originated from slot machines, accounting for 79.7% of total revenue in the final quarter, €11.1 million from table games, and €697,920 from bingo and non-bank poker.
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