São Paulo, September 2, 2026 — The South region of Brazil has an incidence of 54% of illegal bettors, the second-highest rate among the country’s five regions, according to the survey Incidence of Illegal Betting in Brazil, conducted by Instituto Locomotiva. The rate in the South is second only to the Central-West, at 56%, and is higher than the rates recorded in the Southeast, at 49%, and in the North and Northeast, both at 48%.
Conducted in May 2026, the survey interviewed 2,291 sports bettors and online casino players across Brazil. To classify bettors as illegal, the survey considered those who admitted to engaging in two or more irregular betting practices in the three months prior to the study. Among respondents, 53% said they had placed bets on websites that did not require facial recognition, 48% had used platforms with domain extensions other than “bet.br,” while 37% had made deposits using credit cards and 23% had used crypto assets.
The survey is part of the study Sizing and Combating Brazil’s Illegal Betting Market, conducted by LCA Consultores at the request of the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR). Based on data from Instituto Locomotiva, LCA Consultores estimates that between 38% and 44% of the total amount wagered in Brazil currently takes place on illegal platforms, compared with an estimated range of 41% to 51% in 2025.
The decline indicates a reduction in the share of the illegal market during the period, although unlicensed platforms still account for a significant portion of betting activity in the country.
More details
See the study Sizing and Combating Brazil’s Illegal Betting Market
See the survey Incidence of Illegal Betting in Brazil
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