The State Society for State Lotteries and Bets from Spain (SELAE) has revealed that the sale of its ‘Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad’ (Christmas Lottery) has generated €2.54bn in revenues, but this represents a decrease of 11% when compared to what it registered in 2019.
This number is also significantly lower than the €3.44bn that SELAE expected to generate through the Christmas draw, which represents between 50% and 70% of the total lottery revenue in the country.
According to SELAE, the negative effects of the pandemic have affected the revenues. The lottery operator also said that ‘due to the restrictions that have affected the points of sale, there are shops where the usual participation levels weren’t reached.’
All autonomous communities in Spain registered negative numbers, except for Melilla, which increased sales of the Christmas Lottery by 3.99%.
Additionally, the report shows that Soria is the local province that spent the most per inhabitant on lottery tickets, with an average of €198, higher than the average of €54 in Spain.
Last week, the President of SELAE Jesús Huerta Almendro said that the Sorteo Extraordinario would pay out a total of €2.41bn in prizes and called it ‘one of our most deeply rooted traditions.’
Almendro said: “Although this Christmas will be different, there are elements and customs that always remain. One of them is our Christmas Lottery, which has been accompanying us one generation after another for more than two centuries, and which gives us that much-needed hope in these difficult times.”