Chinese lottery sales up 11.8% in July
Sales reached CNY54.6bn (US$7.7bn).
China.- The Ministry of Finance has reported that lottery ticket sales were CNY54.6bn (US$7.7bn) in July, up 11.8 per cent year-on-year but down 2.32 per cent sequentially. Welfare Lottery sales were CNY17.6bn, down 1.3 per cent year-on-year due to a relatively high base in the same period last year and to a decline in the sales of instant lottery tickets.
Sports lottery sales grew 19.3 per cent to CNY37bn (US$4.28bn), mainly due to Euro 2024 from June 14 to July 14. Most provinces saw an increase compared to the same period last year. The largest were in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui and Hunan, where sales were up by CNY730m, CNY510m, CNY400m, and CNY360m respectively.
The sales of lottery numbers decreased by 1.7 per cent year-on-year to CNY14.9bn. Lottery guessing sales were up 49.2 per cent to CNY28.1bn while sales of instant lottery tickets were down 30.6 per cent to CNY7.7bn. Sales of Keno lottery tickets increased 4.6 per cent to CNY3.7bn. Sales of lottery numbers, guessing, instant lottery tickets, and Keno lottery tickets accounted for 27.3 per cent, 51.5 per cent, 14.3 per cent, and 6.9 per cent of the total sales respectively.
Cumulatively, Chinese lottery sales for the first seven months of the year were up 12.5 per cent in year-on-year terms at CNY363bn. The sales of welfare lottery agencies amounted to CNY122bn, up 13.9 per cent year-on-year. The sales of sports lottery agencies amounted to CNY240bn, up 11.8 per cent.
