Sales of official lottery products in mainland China in the first six months of 2017 topped RMB205.03 billion (US$30.3 billion), up by 5.5 percent compared to the prior-year period, according to data released by the Chinese Ministry of Finance on Friday.
Sales of welfare lottery tickets totalled RMB106.13 billon in the period, an increase of 3.7 percent compared to the same period last year. Sports lottery sales increased by 7.6 percent year-on-year to RMB98.92 billion.
The official data also showed that during the six months to June 30 sales went up in 24 of 31 provinces and municipalities of mainland China authorised to sell lottery tickets.
Guangdong continues to be the leading lottery market in mainland China. The province’s lottery ticket sales in the first half of 2017 stood at RMB19.86 billion, up slightly by 0.4 percent from a year earlier.
The eastern Chinese province of Shandong was the second largest market for lottery products. Total lottery ticket sales went up by 5.9 percent year-on-year to RMB16.67 billion in the first six months of this year.
Provinces that recorded a more sizeable growth in lottery ticket sales in the period include Hubei, Jiangxi, Chongqing and Fujian, according to Friday’s data.
For the month of June, sales of lottery tickets fell by 0.3 percent year-on-year, to RMB33.84 billion.
Welfare lottery sales reached RMB17.82 billion last month, up by 8.8 percent year-on-year; but sports lottery sales declined by 8.9 percent to RMB16.02 billion.
