Mainland China’s sales of official lottery products in April rose by 9.6 percent from the prior-year period, according to data from the country’s Ministry of Finance.
Total sales in April were RMB38.24 billion (US$5.5 billion), the Ministry of Finance announced this week. Welfare lottery sales increased by 4.3 percent year-on-year, to RMB18.72 billion, while sports lottery sales rose by 15.2 percent to RMB19.52 billion.
For the first four months of 2017, total sales of lottery products increased by 6.2 percent year-on-year, to approximately RMB133.49 billion. Welfare lottery sales totalled RMB70.06 billion in the four months to April 30, up by 3.7 percent in year-on-year terms, while sports lottery sales increased 9.1 percent year-on-year to RMB63.43 billion.
In April, sales were up in 25 of the 31 provinces and municipalities of mainland China authorised to sell lottery tickets. Guangdong province, which last year reported the highest combined sales of welfare and sports lottery tickets, saw its sales increase 8.6 percent year-on-year in April.
Guangdong continues to be the leading lottery market in mainland China. Combined sales of welfare and sports lottery tickets reached nearly RMB12.90 billion in the January to April period, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier.
Guangdong was followed by Shandong province in eastern China, where total lottery ticket sales were approximately RMB10.76 billion, an increase of 7.1 percent year-on-year. Jiangsu province was ranked third, with ticket sales reaching RMB10.40 billion in the first four months of 2017, up 4.3 percent from a year earlier, according to official data.
