The Portuguese gaming authority, the Gaming Inspection and Regulation Bureau (SRIJ), has released a report revealing that online gambling income in the final quarter of 2021 saw a significant rise of 24.7% compared to the same period in the previous year.
Earnings for the three-month period ending December 31, 2021, reached a total of €141.1 million (£121.0 million/$150.7 million), representing a 24.7% increase from €113.2 million recorded in the same period of 2020. This figure also marks a 23.6% growth compared to the €114.2 million recorded in the third quarter.
Online casino earnings for the period reached €75.3 million, a substantial increase of 53.3% from €49.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, online sports betting revenue also experienced a modest increase of 2.6%, reaching €65.8 million.
In terms of consumer spending, total online casino wagers in the fourth quarter reached €2.1 billion, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 17.8%. Similarly, online sports betting wagers also saw a growth of 26.9%, totaling €3.773 billion.
Slot machines emerged as the most popular form of online casino game among players, accounting for 78.3% of all wagers in the fourth quarter. This was followed by French roulette, which accounted for 9.4% of wagers, and blackjack, which contributed 5.1% of wagers.
Of the online sports betting wagers placed during the quarter, 77.3% were placed on football, with basketball coming in second at 11.5% of total wagers. Tennis followed closely, accounting for 6.6% of wagers. The remaining 4.6% of online wagers were spread across other sports.
The SRIJ study disclosed that internet-based casinos and sports wagering witnessed a rise of 212,600 fresh accounts in the final three months of the year, a decline of 27.6% from the same period last year. As per SRIJ, a total of 109,400 individuals voluntarily removed themselves from all forms of regulated online gambling by December 31st.
Additionally, SRIJ also declared that they prohibited 119 websites operating without the necessary authorizations in the last quarter and instructed another 34 websites to halt their operations within the nation.
Meanwhile, SRIJ also unveiled figures for the controlled brick-and-mortar gambling industry in the country for the final three months of the year, which exhibited a 61.3% annual increase in earnings, reaching €58.1 million.
Of this total income, €46.3 million originated from slot machines, representing 79.7% of the total earnings in the final quarter, €11.1 million stemmed from table games, and €697,920 came from bingo and non-banked poker.
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