China lottery sales down 41.7% in first half

Chinese lottery sales fell 41.7% year-on-year in the first half of 2020, after the market suffered significant disruption from the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Sales for the six months ended 30 June fell to CNY123.90bn (£13.75bn/€15.09bn/$17.69bn), which comprised a CNY59.29bn contribution from the Welfare Lottery (down 39.4%), and CNY64.61bn from the Sports Lottery (down 43.7%).

The largest contribution across both lotteries came from digital ticket sales, which accounted for CNY90.22bn of the total, 18.9% below the H1 2019.

The biggest decline, however, was reported for video lottery sales, which ended the six month period down 79.9% year-on-year at CNY5.06bn. Prediction-based games – ie, betting – sales also experienced a sharp year-on-year decline, falling 72.6% to 17.08bn.

Instant win sales, meanwhile, were down 16.8% at CNY11.49bn, and keno – traditionally the smallest segment – was down 51.1% at CNY37.8m.

This followed the market’s strongest showing of the year to date in June, when it recorded a sales decline of just 3.4%. This was by far the lowest year-on-year decline reported in the monthly figures, with every other month badly affected by Covid-19 and the resulting local and national lockdowns.

Lottery sales for June totalled CNY33.57bn, of which CNY15.30bn came from the Welfare Lottery (down 3.9%), and CNY18.27bn from the Sports Lottery (down 3.1%).

June even saw some verticals report year-on-year growth. Digital lottery sales were up 21.3% from the prior year to CNY22.71bn, while instant win sales rose 30.2% to CNY2.98bn.

Predictions-based games (betting), on the other hand, saw sales decline 33.9% to CNY6.36bn, while video lottery sales fell 63.5% to CNY1.50bn. Keno was again the smallest contributor, with sales of CNY12.6m representing a 1.9% decline from June 2019.

June also saw 13 provinces across China report growth in sales, of which Xinjiang, Tibet and Shaanxi were the top performers. However, for the six month period, sales were down year-on-year in all provinces.