Portuguese Minister of Economy Manuel Castro Almeida has announced that the Government will introduce new legislation on online gambling this summer.
The announcement follows Almeida’s claim that Portugal’s online gambling market is now worth around €24bn, with the illegal market potentially matching that figure. He made the comments during the launch of the campaign, “Not Everything You See Is Safe Gambling.”
The campaign is being led by the Directorate-General for Consumer Affairs (DGC) in partnership with the Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE) and the Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ) of Turismo de Portugal. The Judiciary Police is also supporting the campaign.
The campaign aims to raise awareness of the risks associated with illegal gambling advertising, particularly among young people.
The Government's plans follow Parliament's rejection of a proposal from the Livre party to amend online gambling and betting regulations, with the PSD and CDS voting against the measure. Following the vote, Castro Almeida confirmed that the Government intends to approve new legislation this summer to update the country's online gambling framework.
He also stressed the need for stronger prevention measures and greater public awareness of the risks linked to illegal gambling.
Meanwhile, the opposition Socialist Party (PS) has presented its own bill to reform the online gambling regulatory framework.
Among its proposals, the PS seeks to strengthen the self-exclusion system, which it argues is currently fragmented, by increasing the minimum exclusion period to six months.
The bill also calls for regular responsible gambling awareness campaigns, the creation of a legal basis for measures targeting payment transactions linked to illegal gambling and the establishment of a public register of unlicensed operators.
In addition, it proposes a reporting channel through which users can flag websites and applications suspected of offering unauthorised online gambling services.
The legislation would also require the development of an Action Plan for the Prevention and Combating of Illegal Online Gambling. According to the proposal, the action plan would be aligned with Portugal’s National Plan for the Reduction of Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies 2030.
Portugal's online gambling market continued to expand in Q4 2025, reaching €337.6m ($368m) in gross gaming revenue (GGR), while land-based activity declined for a second consecutive quarter
