Portugal’s GGR hits record levels in Q4 2023 on the back of strong online casino gains
Igaming vertical offsets decrease in sports betting revenue as overall GGR rises by 16.4% among small pool of licensed operators.
Portugal’s online gross gambling revenue (GGR) grew 16.4% year on year (YoY) in Q4 2023, bolstered by impressive online casino performance in the final three months of the year.
According to the latest report from the Portuguese regulator, SRIJ, licensed operators in the market generated €227.4m (£194.6m) in GGR for the reporting period compared to €195.3m in Q4 2022.
The Q4 2023 figure also represents a rise of 5.6% compared to Q3 2023, which was also a record for the Iberian nation at €215.3m.
Of this €227.4m GGR total, online gaming continued to dominate over sports betting as the most popular vertical in the market after returning €154.5m in revenue.
This figure represented a 40.7% YoY spike for the segment and a 15.8% increase on the previous quarter.
Players spent €3.8bn on online casino games in Q4 2023, which marks a 28.7% YoY increase for the market.
Online slots continued to be the most popular casino game in the Portuguese market, with 83% of the market share. French Roulette followed with 6.9% and blackjack with 4.7%.
Sports betting revenue amounted to €72.8m, which is a 14.8% decrease YoY on the €85.4m recorded in Q4 2023. This was also an 11% decrease on the €81.9m recorded in Q3 2023.
Football continued to make up the majority of sports bets placed in Portugal with 74.7%, with the UEFA Champions League coming out on top in terms of sporting competitions bet on.
The English Premier League and the Portuguese Primeira Liga took the silver and bronze medal positions with 10.1% and 9.9%, respectively.
Basketball continued to be the second most popular sport in Portugal with 10.8% of total sports bets, with tennis coming in third at 9.7%.
Elsewhere, the period saw a 6.4% YoY jump in newly registered players in the market, rising from 300,400 in Q4 2022 to 319,500 in Q4 2023.
There was also a 41.6% leap YoY in self-excluded players, jumping from 151,800 to 215,000, during the final three months of the year.
Lastly, the SRIJ noted that it had sent 23 notifications to operators to shutter in the last quarter of the year, while the regulator blocked 191 sites in the period.