Portugal's GGR reaches record levels in Q4 2022
Online gambling and sports betting hit all-time highs in final three months of the year
Portugal’s online gross gambling revenue (GGR) grew 39.7% year on year (YoY) bolstered by record performances for both online casinos and sports betting in Q4 2022.
According to the latest report from the Portuguese regulator, the Gambling Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ), operators in the market generated a total of €195.3m (£172.74m) in GGR for the reporting period compared to €139.8m in Q4 2021.
This also represents a rise of 23.4% compared to Q3 2022, which was also a record for the Iberian nation.
Of this €195.3m total, online gaming continued to beat out sports betting as the most popular vertical in the market after returning €109.8m in revenue.
This figure represented 48.3% YoY growth for the segment and 23.8% growth on Q3 2022.
Players spent €2.98bn on online casino sites in Q4 2022, which marks a 42.1% YoY increase and is yet another record.
Online slots were the most popular casino game amongst Portuguese players, with 79.8% of the market share. French Roulette followed with 8.5% and blackjack with 5.5%.
Sports betting revenue amounted to €85.5m during Q4, a 30% YoY rise from Q4 2021. This also surpasses the record set in Q3 2022 of €69.6m.
Football continued to make up the majority share of sports bets placed in Portugal with 74.2% of the market, dominated by the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The UEFA Champions League was the second most popular football competition during the quarter, followed by the Portuguese Primeira Liga and the English Premier League in third and fourth place, respectively.
Basketball overtook tennis to become the second most popular sport in Portugal, with 12.5% of sports bets in Q4, with tennis making up 7.6% of bets. Other sports accounted for 5.7% of bets.
Elsewhere, the period saw a 41.3% YoY jump in newly registered players in the market, rising from 212,600 in Q4 2021 to 300,400 in Q4 2022.
There was also a 37.9% leap YoY in self-excluded players, jumping from 109,400 to 150,900.
Finally, the SRIJ noted it had sent 54 notifications for closure during Q4, while the regulator blocked 74 sites in the period.