China’s lottery sector has continued its recent success with its Ministry of Finance reporting a 2% year-on-year increase of lottery sales for August.
It has been revealed that the country’s Welfare and Sports Lotteries total sales have totalled CNY37.78bn, which is 4.5% higher than China’s latest update in July, which had reported CNY36.15bn in sales.
However, while consecutive year-on-year increases have been recorded, China’s lottery sector is still expected to fall behind 2019’s figures, with every month in 2020 prior to July suffering reduced numbers.
As it stands total sales for 2020, up until August 31, calculate to CNY194.83bn which is a decrease of around 30.3% year-on-year.
In terms of other figures announced in August, China significantly increased its sports lottery sales to CNY21.53bn, an increase of 10.5% from last year. Moreover, digital lotteries were the most popular product this month as figures rose to CNY21.94bn, an 16.7% from August 2019.
However, there was a 9.3% drop in the Welfare Lottery’s contribution (CNY13.25bn) whilst Keno sales also declined to CNY12.9m, a drop of 15.6% year-on-year. In addition, sports betting sales only had a slight increase, garnering CNY10.24bn in sales. Nevertheless it still retains its place as the country’s second most popular vertical.
Despite figures likely to show an overall decrease from 2019, China can be optimistic about the recent increase in lottery sales. August’s figures highlight how China’s lottery sector continues to grow despite suffering heavily in previous months due to COVID-19.
The country’s Ministry of Finance has reported that August figures is its highest monthly total, which is incredibly significant considering its market was essentially made void in February due to the pandemic.
