Lottery sales in China up 24.4% in April

Chinese lottery sales saw a rise of 24.4 per cent year-on-year but a decline of 2.3 per cent when compared to the previous month.

China.- Lottery sales in China reached CNY29.10bn in April, which represents a rise of 24.4 per cent when compared to the previous year but a decline of 2.3 per cent month-on-month.

Welfare Lottery sales were down 6.2 per cent at CNY11.16bn. Sports Lottery sales were up 56.3 per cent to CNY17.93bn.

Sales of instant win games from the Welfare Lottery saw an increase of 111.0 per cent to CNY2.40bn. They generated CNY2.43bn for the Sports Lottery, up 103.1 per cent year-on-year.

Keno sales brought in 14.2 per cent of the Welfare Lottery total revenue.

Video lottery sales were nil for the Welfare Lottery and CNY80,000 for the Sports lottery, which saw a 166.6 per cent rise year-on-year.

In 2020, Lottery sales in China fell by 20.8 per cent year-on-year to CNY333.95bn (US$51.52bn), mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Video lottery sales were most affected by the pandemic and the closure of betting outlets at the beginning of the year. Sales plummeted by 84.8 per cent year-on-year to just CNY679.3m (US$104.8m) in 2020.

Welfare Lottery sales were down 24.5 per cent at CNY144.48bn (US$22.3bn). Sports Lottery sales fell 17.9 per cent to CNY189.64bn (US$29.26bn).

Sales of instant win games also fell, down 2.1 per cent at CNY14.64bn (US$2.25bn). Only Keno sales increased year-on-year, reaching CNY910.9m (US$140.5m) 2020.