Lottery sales bounce back in China

After a 9.4 per cent drop in February, lottery sales in China rose 5.9 per cent in March to €5.1 billion and boosted first-quarter results.

The festive break of the Chinese New Year, which ran across February 15th to 21st, caused lottery sales in China to drop 9.4 per cent but, according to the Ministry of Finance, they’ve bounced back. During March, sales grew to €5.1 billion across the country, 5.9 per cent higher year-on-year, boosting a 9.4 per cent quarterly increase in comparison to 2017.

According to the Ministry, welfare lottery sales, as well as sports lottery’s saw an increase during March which pushed quarterly sales to €13.5 billion. Separately, welfare lottery ticket sales went up 1.8 per cent to €6.8 billion and sports lottery sales rose 18.3 per cent to €6.7 billion.

The province that grew the most in the whole country was Hunan, located in central China. It registered a €184 million growth year-on-year during the first quarter and led the way for the whole period.

The results for the lottery during February showed that total sales from official products were down 8.9 per cent to €3.3 billion, but thanks to March’s results, quarterly figures showed an increase year-on-year.