Procured, the state-bank Caixa Econômica Federal attributed the decline in revenue especially to the smaller number of accumulated prizes in the lotteries. The bank also said it is carefully monitoring market dynamics. Read the full statement at the end of this article.
The revenue of Caixa Lotteries has been accumulating successive increases since 2018. To continue this trajectory, the result of the first half of this year, R$ 11.6 billion (US$ 2.2bn), needs to grow by at least 23 %, something unprecedented for the period.
Annual revenue of Caixa Lotteries
* 2018 – R$ 13.8 billion (US$ 2.6 billion)
* 2019 – R$ 16.7 billion (US$ 3.15 billion)
* 2020 – R$ 17.1 billion (US$ 3.25 billion)
* 2021 – R$ 18.5 billion (US$ 3.5 billion)
* 2022 – R$ 23.2 billion (US$ 4.39 billion)
* 2023 – R$ 23.4 billion (US$ 4.43 billion)
* 2024 – R$ 25.9 billion (US$ 4.9 billion)
With the drop in revenue of Caixa Lotteries, the amount of social transfers — which receive 47 % of lottery game revenue — also fell. In the first half of 2025, R$ 5.46 billion (USD 1.03bn) were sent to sport, education, and social security programs, a contraction of 8.2 % relative to the first half of last year.
Regulated betting market began to operate in 2025
The ‘Bets’ Law was sanctioned in Brazil in December 2023, after approval by Congress. In 2024, the Ministry of Finance (Brazil) regulated the sector and detailed rules for its functioning.
From January 2025 the regulated betting market began operating in Brazil. The betting platforms started to operate on sites with the domain “.bet.br” and to comply with legal obligations such as combating fraud, money-laundering and abusive advertising.
Lula was upset with Caixa’s plans to launch a betting platform
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) was irritated by the project of Caixa to launch a betting platform. Lula and the bank’s president, Carlos Vieira, are expected to discuss the subject this week. The bank planned to announce the betting platform this year.
The government has been advocating expanding taxation on “billionaires, banks and bets” — the “BBB Taxation” — to increase fiscal justice.
On another front of tension for betting within the PT administration, the Tribunal de Contas da União pointed out that members of families receiving the Bolsa Família transferred R$ 3.7 billion (US$700m) to betting houses in January 2025. That amount corresponds to 27 % of the R$ 13.7 billion (US$2.6bn) distributed by the program that month.
Caixa launches offensive against ‘bolões’ (lottery pools)
In September, the Justice system of São Paulo dropped an inquiry, requested by Caixa, investigating the exploitation of gambling and crimes against the popular economy by lottery-betting-intermediary websites. The Public Prosecutor’s Office and the State Civil Police concluded that there was no evidence of irregularities.
The lottery-betting intermediaries operate on behalf of clients vis-à-vis the state bank and direct bettors to Caixa, since the bets are registered at the lottery outlets.
According to a study by the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) in 2022, the activity of the 'bolões' (pooled betting groups) increased Caixa’s revenue by on average R$ 556 million (US$105m) per year.
Read Caixa’s statement:
“Caixa Loterias is closely monitoring sector dynamics and market movements that impact its lines of business. The performance in the first half of 2025 was due especially to the lower number of accumulated prizes this year compared to the same period in 2024. This behaviour did not continue in the subsequent months, which will be disclosed in due course, in the next Administrative Report of Caixa Loterias.”
Source: Coluna do Estadão
