Mainland China’s total sales from official lottery products increased 8.1 percent in full year 2017 to nearly CNY426.67 billion (US$67.26 billion), show data from the country’s Ministry of Finance.
Sales of welfare lottery tickets in the 12 months to December 31 reached approximately CNY216.98 billion, 5.1 percent higher than the figure in full-year 2016. Sports lottery sales reached grew by 11.4 percent year-on-year to CNY209.69 billion.
The official data also showed an increase in lottery sales in 26 provinces out of 31 provinces and cities of mainland China authorise to sell lottery tickets. Strong nominal growth was recorded in Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Hubei, Guangdong and Fujian provinces, said the Ministry of Finance .
Sales of lottery products in December rose by 8.4 percent compared to the same period last year to CNY39.68 billion.
According to the data, sales of sports lottery tickets reported a 14.6 percent year-on-year increase to CNY19.03 billion. Sales of welfare lottery tickets reached CNY20.65 billion, up by 3.3 percent from the prior-year period.
The provinces that saw the most significant year-on-year growth in lottery sales in December were Jiangsu, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Guangdong, said the ministry data.
Guangdong remained mainland China’s biggest single-province market for lottery products in full-year 2017, with total lottery ticket sales reaching CNY42.28 billion in the period, up by 6.7 percent from 2016. Guangdong was followed by Jiangsu province, where total lottery ticket sales were CNY35.51 billion, up by 8.4 percent year-on-year.
Shandong province in eastern China placed third, with lottery ticket sales of nearly CNY33.35 billion in 2017, an increase of 4.5 percent from 2016, according to official data.
