Official figures indicate that the value of lottery sales in mainland China fell in June to nearly CNY34.77 billion (US$5.05 billion), or 40.7 percent less than a year earlier, declining for the fifth month in a row, according to official data from the country’s Ministry of Finance.
The ministry attributed the steepness of the annual fall in June to lottery sales having been unusually high a year earlier, when the four-yearly football World Cup tournament boosted sales.
The official figures indicate that sports lottery sales fell to CNY18.85 billion in June, 52.3 percent less than a year earlier.
June sales of welfare lottery tickets fell by 16.6 percent to CNY15.92 billion, the figures indicate.
In the first half of 2019, lottery sales of all types in mainland China amounted to CNY212.6 billion, 13.3 percent less than in the first half of 2018, said the finance ministry. Welfare lottery sales decreased by 11.6 percent year-on-year to approximately CNY97.76 billion, while sports lottery sales recorded a decline of 14.7 percent to CNY114.4 billion.
The biggest lottery market in mainland China is still Guangdong province, where total sales of lottery products in the first half declined by 14.5 percent from a year earlier to CNY19.67 billion.
Guangdong was followed by Jiangsu province, with combined sales of welfare and sports lottery tickets slightly above CNY18.09 billion, down 13.6 percent compared to the prior year. Shandong province in eastern China was ranked third, with aggregate ticket sales of CNY17.29 billion, down 7.0 percent year-on-year, according to official data.
