South Korea: casinos report revenue of US$975.39m for 2021

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in South Korea has reported that casinos posted revenue of KRW1.18tn (US$975.39m) for 2021, up 13.4 per cent year-on-year.

South Korea.- The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has reported that South Korean casino revenue for the year 2021 was KRW1.18tn (US$975.39m), compared to KRW1.04tn in 2020. The growth was mainly attributed to Kangwon Land, the only casino in South Korea open to locals. It registered a near 75 per cent year-on-year jump in revenue year-on-year.

The 16 foreign-only casinos saw their revenue drop by nearly 31.9 per cent when compared to the previous year, coming in at KRW407.13bn. Total casino revenue was down 59.7 per cent compared to KRW2.93tn in 2019, the most recent trading year before the Covid-19 pandemic hit travel and tourism.

At Kangwon Land, gaming revenue in 2021 was just under KRW774.9bn, up 74.7 per cent when compared to the KRW443.6bn recorded in 2020 but down 47.7 per cent from the KRW1.48tn reported in 2019.

South Korea lottery sales up 10.3% in 2021

The Korea Lottery Commission reported record lottery sales of KRW5.98tn (US$5.02bn) for 2021, up 10.3 per cent year-on-year from KRW5.42tn in 2020. Sales of online lottery tickets were up 8.4 per cent to KRW5.14tn while sales of pension-type tickets were up 29.2 per cent to KRW291.1bn.

According to Yonhap News Agency, lotto accounted for 42.1 per cent of all lottery tickets in 2020, up from 21.2 per cent in 2020. For the first half of 2021, the Korea Lottery Commission had reported record lottery sales of US$2.5bn, up 12.6 per cent year-on-year. That period saw a surge in pension-type lotteries that pay winners with annuities. Sales of these reached KRW142.2bn, an increase of 66.4 per cent and the largest year-on-year H1 increase since this type of lottery ticket was launched in 2012.