China’s official Sports and Welfare lotteries broke the US$5 billion mark in sales in October, the latest figures from the Ministry of Finance show, and the two look set this year to surpass $61 billion.
The $5.34 billion in sales for the month represent a combined 20.3% increase year on year, with the Sports Lottery leading the way at +27.9%, while the Welfare Lottery was up 14.5%.
Sales through the first 10 months are up 24% over the same period in 2013, easily surpassing last year’s roughly 18% year-on-year increase, which resulted in $49 billion in total sales and solidified China’s status as the second-largest national lottery market in the world behind the United States.
By comparison, global sales grew by 4.9% last year. US sales were up 3% last year on an unaudited basis to $64.9 billion, not counting $6.1 billion in revenue from video lottery terminals in eight states.
Forecasts calling for China’s lotteries to reach $73.3 billion in 2015, should they prove accurate, will likely see the country overtake the US over the next 12 months to move into first place.
