Mainland China’s total official lottery sales for February were CNY23.41 billion (US$3.49 billion), down 8.8 percent year-on-year, according to official data published on Friday by the country’s Ministry of Finance.
Welfare lottery sales declined by 13.9 percent year-on-year, to nearly CNY11.30 billion, while sports lottery sales went down 3.4 percent to approximately CNY12.12 billion, the ministry announced.
Sales were down – in year-on-year terms – in 24 of the 31 regional-level jurisdictions of mainland China where sales of lottery tickets are allowed. The ministry did not provide a reason for the decline in lottery sales in February.
The biggest increase in the February sale of official lottery products was seen in Sichuan province, according to the ministry’s data. Total sales of lottery products in Sichuan stood at CNY1.17 billion in February, 29.6-percent higher than a year before.
Guangdong remained mainland China’s biggest single-province market for lottery products in February, with total lottery ticket sales reaching CNY2.10 billion in the period, albeit down 16.5 percent from a year earlier. Guangdong was followed by Jiangsu province, where total lottery ticket sales in the month were CNY1.92 billion, an increase of 27.7 percent in year-on-year terms.
Combined lottery sales for the entire mainland China market in the first two months of this year amounted to nearly CNY71.37 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11.5 percent.
Welfare lottery sales in the January to February period increased by 0.2 percent year-on-year to CNY32.51 billion, while sports lottery sales were CNY38.85 billion, up 23.2 percent.
The growth in sales from official lottery products in the first two months was supported by a 25.1-percent increase in January, partly spurred by a “huge increase” in sports lottery sales during that month, according to official data.
