Lottery sales in mainland China reached RMB 579.7 billion (US$81.2 billion) in 2023, an increase of 36.5% year-on-year. Of these, the sports lottery accounted for RMB 385.3 billion (US$53.9 billion) in sales, up 39.3% compared with 2022.
According to the information from the Ministry of Finance, the strong result came despite a slow end to the year, with December lottery sales falling by 13.8% year-on-year to RMB 53.3 billion (US$7.45 billion). Welfare lottery sales grew by 47.7% to RMB 5.65 billion (US$790 million) in December while the sports lottery fell by 28.4% to RMB 35.8 billion (US$5.0 billion).
The Ministry of Finance pointed out that the decrease in sports lottery betting in December was mainly due to a higher base in the same period in 2022, which was driven by the 2022 Football World Cup.
The FY23 lottery results included digital ticket sales of RMB 176.8 billion (US$24.7 billion), an increase of 13.8%, while sales of “competitive guessing lotteries” amounted to RMB 246.5 billion (US$34.5 billion), an increase of 36.2%. Sales of instant lottery tickets amounted to RMB 119.0 billion (US$16.6 billion), up 100.2% and sales of keno tickets reached RMB 37.4 billion (US$5.22 billion), up 29.6%.
Digital lottery, “competitive guessing lotteries”, instant lottery and Keno accounted for 30.5%, 42.5%, 20.5% and 6.5% of the lottery sales respectively.
Categorized by region, lottery sales increased in all provinces, with Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong provinces showing the most significant increases.
The Ministry of Finance noted that lottery organizations at all levels should closely track and analyze new conditions and problems, and strengthen the issuance and sales of lottery tickets to ensure the smooth operation of the market.
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