Lottery sales in mainland China reached RMB382.4 billion (US$61.5 billion) in 2014, an increase of 23.6 percent from the previous year, data from the country’s Ministry of Finance show.
Welfare lottery sales reached RMB206 billion last year, up by 16.7 percent from 2013. Sports lottery ticket sales grew at a much faster rate – 32.8 percent – reaching RMB176.4 billion, show the official figures published on Tuesday.
Sports lottery sales jumped in mid-2014 fuelled by the FIFA World Cup. The tournament took place between June 12 and July 13. Sales of sports lottery increased by 92.9 percent year-on-year in July.
Cumulative lottery sales were up in all provinces and cities in 2014, compared to the previous year. Guangdong province, adjacent to Macau and Hong Kong, reported the highest value of sales for full-2014, at RMB36.8 billion, up by 19.5 percent from the previous year.
In Shanghai, lottery sales jumped 61.4 percent year-on-year to RMB30.6 billion in 2014, just behind Jiangsu province, where lottery sales totalled RMB31.8 billion.
Lottery sales rose 19.4 percent in year-on-year terms to RMB36.2 billion in December, according to Tuesday’s data.
Welfare lottery sales in the last month of 2014 reached RMB19.6 billion, up by 10.9 percent from a year earlier. Sports lottery sales increased by 31.3 percent year-on-year to RMB16.6 billion.
