Portugals digital gaming income reached a peak in the last quarter, hitting €227.4 million (£194.7 million/$246.8 million). This marks the sixth consecutive quarter of record-breaking numbers.
In the final three months of 2023, Portugals online gambling income increased by 5.6% compared to the previous quarter (Q3) which reached €215.4 million, and by 16.4% compared to the same period in 2022 (€195.3 million).
Digital casino games contributed €154.5 million, a 40.7% increase annually, also setting a new high.
Consumer spending on online casino games in the final quarter reached €3.84 billion, a 28.7% increase annually, the highest ever recorded in the market. Slot machines accounted for 83.0% of all bets, followed by French roulette at 6.9% and blackjack at 4.7%. The remaining spending was distributed among dice games and poker.
Despite the rise in spending, sports wagering income continued to decline. Income in the last quarter reached €72.8 million, a 14.8% decrease from €85.4 million in 2022.
However, player spending increased by 16.0%, reaching €5.321 billion, also higher than any other quarter in 2023.
Soccer remains the most popular sport, accounting for 74% of all bets.
A total of seven percent of all wagers were placed on basketball, ten point eight percent on basketball, nine point seven percent on tennis, and four point eight percent on other athletic competitions.
The quantity of online gambling accounts registered and self-excluded has grown. In the final three months of the year, Portugal added roughly three hundred nineteen thousand five hundred new online gambling accounts, compared to two hundred thirty-seven thousand six hundred in the same period last year.
As of the end of the final three months of the year, there were approximately four point two million active online gambling accounts in Portugal.
Along with the increase in new player accounts, there has been a rise in online gambling self-exclusion. In the final three months of the year, the number of self-exclusions reached two hundred fifteen thousand, an increase of eighteen thousand four hundred compared to the third quarter and sixty-three thousand two hundred compared to the final three months of the year of 2022.
Furthermore, Portuguese authorities ordered the closure of twenty-three unlawful websites this quarter.
The Portuguese land-based gambling market contracted in the final three months of the year.
The news is not positive in the land-based gambling sector. Fourth-quarter revenue was sixty-four point six million euros, down three point nine percent from sixty-seven point two million euros in the same period of 2022.
Land-based slot machine revenue fell three point five percent year-on-year to fifty-one point four million euros, representing seventy-nine point seven percent of total fourth-quarter revenue. The remaining thirteen point seven million euros came from casino-style games and bingo, down one point five percent.
Breaking down further, American roulette generated four point two million euros in revenue, baccarat three point six million euros, and blackjack two point eight million euros.
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