The Brazilian Supermarket Association (ABRAS) has linked stronger food purchases in October to Brazil’s betting prohibition, an interpretation challenged by the betting industry’s representative body over the lack of evidence establishing causation.
ABRAS reported year-on-year sales growth of 6.5% between October 5 and 11 and 6.3% between October 12 and 18, with increases across the regions and store formats surveyed. The association suggested that some money previously spent on betting may have been redirected towards household purchases following the prohibition.
ABRAS president João Galassi presented the findings at the Supervendas trade fair in Aracaju, highlighting increased purchases of essentials including rice, cooking oil, pasta and coffee. The association has backed maintaining the prohibition, with vice-president Márcio Milan arguing that the timing of the sales increases supported its interpretation.
The association also cited a reported decline in Pix transactions following the restrictions, suggesting this provided another indication of changing household spending patterns. However, the transaction figures do not themselves establish that money moved from betting accounts into supermarkets.
In a statement responding to ABRAS, the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR) said the figures “do not prove that the prohibition of betting caused the increase in food purchases”. It argued that any assessment must account for how consumption would have developed regardless of the restrictions, considering employment, income, prices and household resources.
IBJR pointed to a separate nominal-sales measure in ABRAS/NIQ’s weekly monitoring, which showed year-on-year growth of 7.9% between September 14 and 20, before the prohibition, compared with 7.4% between October 5 and 11. It also noted that ABRAS had previously attributed consumption growth to improving employment and income and falling food prices.
On Pix, IBJR said transaction counts could not establish how much households had stopped spending on betting, where that money went or whether gambling continued through unlicensed platforms.
The institute also questioned estimates that betting had diverted R$143 billion from retail sales and R$62.5 billion from household income, saying these measured different things and should not be treated as actual spending with regulated operators. Citing Finance Ministry figures, it put regulated-market gross gaming revenue—stakes minus prizes paid—at approximately R$37 billion in 2025, equivalent to around 0.46% of household consumption.