Portugal’s Minister of Economy has branded the country’s black market a ‘plague’ as he urged the fightback.
According to reports by The Portugal News, Manuel Castro Almeida said that the government has plans to implement updated rules on online gambling while speaking at the launch event for ’Not everything you see is safe gambling’ – an initiative promoted by the Directorate-General for Consumer Affairs, the Food and Economic Security Authority and the Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ).
Though he did not provide specific details on what these would be, Almeida said that there is a priority for ‘active prevention’ and ‘raising citizens’ awareness of the dangers of illegal gambling’.
He said: “Illegal online gambling destroys many people, many families, many individuals, and it’s also terrible for the economy. The idea of impunity has been created in almost everything related to digital fraud.”
Portugal’s gambling market is valued at approximately €24bn, and Almeida suggested that the illicit sector’s value could be comparable to this figure.
The market has grown to 17 licensed operators since the regulation began in 2015. In Q4 2025, the market generated €337.6m, growth of 4.5% compared to the same period in 2024, according to data from SRIJ.
Addressing the organisations at the initiative launch, Almeida said: “That’s why I’m appealing to you. If you need to change the rules, suggest it. If changing the laws is necessary to make it easier to combat this problem, suggest it. The government is here for that.”
Portugal’s Parliament did consider proposals from the Livre party to impose stricter controls for gambling advertising and promotions. However, these efforts were eventually shut down by the Social Democrat and People’s parties.
Earlier this year, SRIJ unveiled a new-look self-exclusion platform for players, and non-players will be able to use the platform to self-exclude from all licensed online gaming operators in Portugal.
According to the regulator, the new system features a ‘simpler and more intuitive interface’ to allow for quicker and more efficient self-exclusion requests, and has also been optimised for mobile devices.
