Portugal’s regulated online gambling market returned to growth in the third quarter after suffering its first ever sequential decline in Q2.

Official figures released this week by the Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ) regulatory body show Portuguese-licensed online gambling operators generated combined revenue of €29.3m in the three months ending September 30.

The Q3 total is 15.6% greater than the €25.4m the market generated in Q2 2017, which represented the first sequential revenue decline since Portugal launched its regulated market in June 2016. The Q3 figure is also 21.5% higher than the €24.1m the market reported in Q3 2016, its first full quarter of operations.

For the first nine months of 2017, total online gambling revenue stands at €86.3m, of which the government’s share came to €24.5m. Sports betting accounted for €47.7m of this total, representing roughly 55% of the overall market, with online casino (including online poker) contributed €38.4m.