Lottery sales down 9 pct in China

During February, total sales from official lottery products in China were down 8.9 per cent to €3.3 billion.

China.- The Chinese Ministry of Finance revealed the results for the lottery during February, showing that total sales from official products were down 8.9 per cent in mainland China to €3.3 billion. According to the ministry, the decline was mainly due to the festive break of the Chinese New Year, which ran across February 15th to 21st.

The largest decline was recorded by welfare lottery sales, which were down by 14.2 per cent year-on-year to €1.7 billion. Sports lottery sales reported a €1.6 billion decline and were 2.5 per cent in comparison to February 2017. Nationwide, sales were down in 24 of the 31 provinces and cities authorised to sell tickets, with only Inner Mongolia, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi and Shaanxi, showing growth.

Combining sales during January and February grew by 11.6 per cent year-on-year to 8.2 billion. The most successful markets, which outpaced this nationwide growth rate include Tianjin city, Shanxi, Jilin, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai.