The Asian Games in Hangzhou and new instant win games triggered a lottery revenue surge in China in September.
China’s state lottery saw a 58.3% rise in total lottery ticket sales to CNY52.8bn ($7.2bn/€6.8bn/£5.9bn) in September, according to figures released by the ministry of finance.
The most notable rise was in guess lottery sales – effectively sports betting – which grew by 70.1% year-on-year to CNY21.9bn. The ministry said the increase in major events such as the multi-sport Asian Games, which began during the final week of the month, was behind the surge.
The ministry of finance said the launch of new instant lottery tickets and the expansion of new channels also accounted for growth during the month. Lotto digital lottery sales were up 15.0% to CNY14.9bn, while instant lottery sales grew by 152% to CNY12.5bn. Keno lottery sales were up 36.9% to CNY34.9bn.
In September, the sales volume of Lotto digital, guessing, instant and Keno lottery tickets accounted for 28.2%, 41.5%,..