GGRAsia – Mainland China first-quarter lottery sales up 5 pct

Mainland China first-quarter lottery sales up 5 pct

Apr 21, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Mainland China’s total sales from official lottery products increased by 4.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017 to approximately RMB95.25 billion (US$13.84 billion), according to official data from the country’s Ministry of Finance, released on Thursday.

Welfare lottery sales totalled RMB51.34 billion in the three months to March 31, up by 3.5 percent in year-on-year terms, while sports lottery sales increased 6.6 percent year-on-year to RMB43.91 billion.

In the first quarter of 2017, sales were up in 22 of the 31 provinces and cities of mainland China authorised to sell lottery tickets. Strong nominal growth was recorded in Hubei, Jiangxi, Chongqing, Shandong and Gansu.

Combined sales for the two lottery systems in March amounted to RMB37.93 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.3 percent. Welfare lottery sales increased by 3.8 percent to reach about RMB19.83 billion, while sales of sports lottery products rose by 9.2 percent to RMB18.10 billion.

Online sales of mainland China lottery products are currently suspended, a move described by the authorities as temporary but which has hit several companies serving that segment.