China lottery sales remain low due to Covid-19

Results for May were down 17.7 per cent on 2019 as the impact of the pandemic continues to show.

China.- Lottery sales in China continue to feel the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Authorities say China’s sports and welfare lotteries took in CNY29.22 billion (US$4.14bn) in revenue in May.

That’s an improvement on April’s CNY23.39 billion (US$3.3 billion) total, but still a decline of 17.7 per cent on figures for May 2019.

As could be expected, the majority of May’s revenue came from digital sales, which brought in CNY23.22 billion (US$3.28 billion) or 79.5 per cent of total revenue for the month.

Sales for quiz games dropped by 71.6 per cent to CNY2.72 billion (US$385 million), and instant win sales by 9.2 per cent, to CNY2.36 billion (USD334 million).

Video lottery sales also declined by 78.8 per cent to CNY916.1 million (US$129 million)

Total lottery sales in China for the first five months of 2020 fell by 49.2 per cent year-on- year to CNY90.33 billion (USD12.7 billion).

April saw lottery sales of CNY23.39 billion (about US$3.28 billion), and March CNY 10.51 billion (about US$1.48 billion), Xinhua agency reported.

The numbers from May suggest something of a recovery from the previous month as China slowly comes out of Covid-19 lockdown measures.

China’s welfare and sports lottery are the only legal forms of gambling in the country.