China’s lottery sales jump 39.5% as World Cup drives sports betting demand
Sports Lottery sales surged 62.9 per cent year-on-year on the back of FIFA World Cup activity.
China.- Lottery sales in China reached RMB76.0bn (US$11.3bn) in June, representing a 39.5 per cent increase compared with the same month last year. According to data from the Ministry of Finance, the monthly total was RMB21.5bn (US$3.2bn) higher than in June 2025, with the growth attributed to increased Sports Lottery sales during the FIFA World Cup.
The Sports Lottery generated RMB59.2bn (US$8.77bn) in June, up 62.9 per cent year-on-year. In contrast, the Welfare Lottery generated monthly sales of RMB16.8bn (US$2.49bn), a decline of 7.6 per cent from the previous year.
For the first six months of 2026, total lottery sales reached RMB326.9bn (US$48.4bn), an increase of 2.8 per cent year-on-year. The Welfare Lottery recorded cumulative sales of RMB100.1bn (US$14.8bn), down 6.6 per cent, while the Sports Lottery generated RMB226.8bn (US$33.6bn), representing a 7.6 per cent increase year-on-year.
