APAJO Survey Reveals 56% of Portuguese Online Gamblers Gamble on Illegal Websites

A national survey has revealed that more than half of the Portuguese online gamblers gamble on illegal websites.

According to the survey promoted by the Portuguese Association of Online Gambling and Gambling (APAJO), 56% of nationally registered players bet through licensed and unlicensed online gambling sites. But of these, only 6% bet exclusively through illegal websites.

“In the opposite direction, 44% of players bet exclusively on licensed sites, that is, within the law,” the survey stated.

With 609 effective interviews, the survey also reveals that of the universe of registered players, about 94% have already played for money in 2019. The survey found that 42.2% of registrations are still prior to 2016, the year in which sector regulation came into force, with the remaining almost 58% of registrations made in subsequent years.

According to the study, 20% of consumers were registered in 2018 and 52% of these were registered operators only. Among consumers registered in the first half of this year, almost 70% registered only on licensed platforms.

“This data demonstrates a very favorable evolution in the growth of the licensed market. This is a positive sign, although we consider in APAJO that there is still much to be done to combat unlicensed online gambling in Portugal,” APAJO president Gabino Oliveira said.

Looking at the data, Gabino Oliveira points out that it is young people between 18 and 24 years old who most bet on unlicensed platforms, almost 53%, a figure that drops to 29.4% in the group of 25 to 34 years.