China lottery sales down 43.4% in January

Chinese lottery sales were down 43.3% year-on-year in January, as the country’s Ministry of Finance noted declines across a number of product verticals and in several major provinces.

Total lottery sales amounted to CNY27.2bn (£3.01bn/€3.51bn/$3.92bn) during the month, down from CNY47.96bn in January of 2019 – representing a decline of CNY20.75bn.

The Sports Lottery was the most popular form of lottery gaming among people in the country, but sales were down 46.4% year-on-year to CNY14.32bn. China also saw a decline in Welfare Lottery sales, which fell 39.2% to CNY8.33bn in January.

In terms of ticket types, digital sales were down 39.9% year-on-year to CNY14.97bn, while sales for quiz-type games fell 58.5% to CNY6.80bn.

Though instant lottery sales were up 27.1% to CNY2.78bn, there was a 40.6% decline in video lottery ticket sales to CNY2.65bn, as well as a 7.8% drop in Keno-type lottery tickets sales.

Looking at regional performance, the Ministry of Finance noted a drop in sales across some of the country’s largest provinces, including Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shandong, Zhejiang, and Henan.

In its evaluation of the month, the Ministry of Finance said that sales were hit by the shutdown of the lottery market during the Chinese New Year celebrations, due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, while some games were impacted by new rules.

The Ministry of Finance also noted that the comparative period in the previous year benefitted from the Asian Cup, a national team football tournament that helped to boost sports lottery sales in January 2019.