Brazil’s gambling problem gamblers top 2.1 million as the market grows, with women now 40% of cases

Brazil’s regulated betting boom is coming with a side effect that payment teams cannot ignore: according to industry organizations, the number of dependent players has passed 2.1 million, and another 7.5 million are classified as problem gamblers. That means 4.5% of the population is experiencing serious harm from gambling, while card funding rules are already tightening.

1. Women now account for 40% of all gambling addicts in Brazil, up from 25% in 2016. For PSPs and acquirers, that is not a demographic footnote; it is a sign that the customer base is widening beyond the old male-heavy profile regulators usually had in mind.
2. Despite the rise in gambling addiction, Brazil’s Central Bank says gambling is not the cause of the country’s growing household debt. President Gabriel Galipolo said the main driver is the wider availability of credit cards.
3. According to Galipolo, 96 million Brazilians now use credit cards, and 52.8 million have debts on revolving credit or installment plans with interest. In other words, the credit stack is already under pressure before gambling enters the picture.
4. There is also a hard payments restriction now in place: topping up gaming accounts with credit cards has been banned in Brazil since 1 January 2025. For operators, that means the old card deposit route is closed; for PSPs, it means the compliance question is no longer theoretical.