The Portuguese gaming oversight body, the Service for Regulation and Inspection of Games (SRIJ), has unveiled quarterly gambling data revealing a 7.7% surge in the number of individuals opting for self-exclusion in the second quarter, while new player sign-ups decreased by 23.1% on a quarterly basis.
Although the quarterly drop in new player sign-ups may be attributed to seasonal fluctuations, it still reflects a 9.1% rise compared to the same period last year, bringing the total number of such players to 128,100.
This contrasts with 118,900 in the preceding quarter and 93,600 in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the increase in self-excluding players, despite an overall decline in player numbers, could be a more concerning trend.
The percentage of self-excluding players now stands at 3.5% of the total number of registered players. Of the self-excluding players, 91.8% have chosen indefinite exclusion.
Overall, online gambling and wagering produced €146.4 million (£123.6 million/$149.5 million) in income, a 17.2% year-on-year increase but a 7.7% quarter-on-quarter decrease. This compares to a 23.6% year-on-year rise in total gambling revenue in Portugal in the previous quarter.
Of the €146.4 million, €64.7 million originated from sports betting activities, with the remaining €81 million stemming from other forms of gambling.
Digital wagering earnings hit €7 million.
During the second three-month period of 2023, overall income from the special levy on internet gambling (IEJO) reached €44.9 million, a rise of €6.1 million compared to the same timeframe in 2022.
Supervisory bodies continue to take a tough stance against illicit operators, reporting that the organization issued 54 closure notices to websites in this quarter, bringing the total number of notices given out since 2015 to 980.
Regulators also blocked internet service providers (ISPs) for 34 websites, bringing the total number of blocked websites to 1234.
The report also outlines ongoing endeavors to combat illicit advertising: “Within its authority, the SRIJ also takes action to restrict advertising by unlicensed online gambling operators. The SRIJ conducts various monitoring and awareness-raising activities for this purpose. This has resulted in the removal of 400 videos promoting illegal gambling websites (20 were removed in the second quarter of 2022).
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