Portuguese Casino Industry on Rise

Although the growth in 2015 is promising, the Portuguese casino industry is still not back to its former glory.

According to Portuguese gambling news, the country’s gambling market has shown a notable increase in 2015. The decline of the once flourishing Portuguese gambling industry began in 2008. Until 2014, the Portuguese Casino Association (APC) reported an overall 37% drop in revenues. Last year’s gross gaming revenue totals to a promising EUR 288,6 million, which is 8% more than 2014’s numbers.

The Portuguese casino industry hopes that the gambling laws won’t be straitened

APC refrained from bursting comments, saying that it is “only a slight recovery when you consider the 37 per cent fall in revenues between 2008 and 2014.” However, the Association forecasts further growth in 2016 but not at the same pace as 2015. Unfortunately, the Portuguese casino industry has some new signs to worry about. In the past few months, some governmental statements suggested the imminent straitening of Portuguese gambling laws.

Table games showed the biggest growth with 12,3%, followed by 7,2% for slot machines. However, APC says that the slots sector is facing strong competition from popular online gambling sites in Portugal. Lisboa Casino finished on the top with EUR 78,9 million in revenues. The Solverde Group’s casino occupy the second place with EUR 78 million. At the moment, there are 11 operating casinos in Portugal.