Chinese lottery sales down 13.2%

Sales in February reached CNY36.30bn (US$5.02bn).

China.- The Ministry of Finance has reported that lottery ticket sales reached CNY36.30bn (US$5.02bn) in February, down 13.2 per cent year-on-year. Welfare Lottery sales were CNY12.63bn (US$1.7bn), down 6.6 per cent while sports lottery sales fell 16.3 per cent to CNY23.66bn (US$3.2bn). The fall was attributed to the closure of the market during the Spring Festival holiday.

Cumulatively, Chinese lottery sales for the first two months of the year were up 25.1 per cent in year-on-year terms to CNY93.86bn (US$12bn). Welfare Lottery sales amounted to CNY32.32bn (US$4bn), up 32.6 per cent year-on-year. Sports lottery sales totalled CNY61.54bn (US$8.5bn), a rise of 21.5 per cent.

For full-year 2023, Chinese lottery sales were up by 36.5 per cent at CNY579.7bn (US$81.64bn). The sales of lottery tickets for the country’s welfare system increased by 31.3 per cent to CNY194.44bn while sports lottery tickets sales rose by 39.3 per cent to CNY385.26bn.