About 43.8 million Brazilians, or 27% of the adult population, had already bet on online gambling platforms by the end of August, according to data from Brazil's Ministry of Finance. The figures come from Sigap, the government system that tracks all legal bets, and were reported on Friday by Folha de S.Paulo after a freedom-of-information request filed by the news site BNL Data. Brazil began licensing these platforms, known locally as bets, in 2025. In eight months, the total rose 75.2% from the 25 million recorded at the end of 2025.
The count includes anyone who has bet at least once, a distinction that matters when reading the numbers. Active bettors, those who deposit money each month, actually fell 7.6% in the first half of the year, to an average of 8.5 million a month, from 9.2 million in 2025. Part of the drop reflects restrictions already in place. According to the ministry, 5 million people are now blocked from the platforms: 3 million beneficiaries of social programs such as Bolsa Familia, 474,000 enrolled in the federal debt renegotiation program known as Desenrola Brasil, and 854,000 who asked to self-exclude.
Fewer deposits, higher house take
Revenue at government-licensed platforms rose 5.9% in the first half of 2026 compared with a year earlier, even as deposits fell from R$ 99.2 billion to R$ 88.5 billion. Bettors' net losses, the gap between what they deposited and what they got back in prizes, totaled R$ 20.2 billion between January and June, against R$ 19.1 billion a year before. By Folha's calculation, house revenue came to 22.8% of deposits, above the 15% maximum retention set by law and the 7% rate the industry itself advertises. Under current rules, 88% of gross gaming revenue stays with the companies and 12% goes to the federal government and beneficiary entities, a share that rises to 13% this year and 15% in 2028.
Bettors are mostly men, who account for 68.84%, against 31.16% for women. The largest age bracket, at 29.07%, is 31 to 40 years old. Activity tracks the football calendar. The yearly peak came in January, with 10.2 million monthly depositors, as state championships began; the low was April, with 7.2 million, shortly before the launch of the expanded Desenrola Brasil; and demand rose again in June, when the World Cup started. "The number of transactions went up, but the amount deposited per person did not rise significantly," Leonardo Baptista, CEO of Pay4Fun, a payments company that serves the industry, told Folha about the tournament period.
Government weighs restrictions
At a press conference on Thursday, Finance Minister Dario Durigan said government discussions about possible restrictions on platforms and online games, such as the crash games tigrinho and Aviator, are guided by the impact of betting on household budgets. "We remain very concerned about the cost of living and about preserving the income of Brazilian families," he said.
Two caveats are worth noting. The data cover only the 85 companies licensed by the government and two more operating under court order, and do not measure illegal gambling. And the 43.8 million figure counts everyone who has ever bet, not those betting today. For readers who want to cut back or stop, there is a formal route: requesting self-exclusion directly from the platforms, already used by 854,000 people, alongside the automatic blocks that apply to social program beneficiaries and Desenrola Brasil enrollees. Over the half-year, operators kept more than they paid out in prizes, and the money wagered comes from the same income that pays a household's bills.