South Korea’s gambling and lottery industry grew for the ninth year in a row in 2014, with total sales hitting more than 19.87 trillion won (US$17.64 billion), the government said Wednesday.
According to official data, gambling-related sales grew 1%, or by 199.2 billion won, from 19.67 trillion won the year before. The gambling industry covers casinos, lotteries, horse, cycling and boat races and traditional bullfights.
The latest data, however, showed growth trailing in recent years.
In 2011, sales growth reached 5% on-year. It rose 6.5% in the following year, then dropped to a 0.6% increase in 2013.
For 2015, government officials predict the industry will generate total revenue over 20 trillion won, mainly from a rise in demand for lotteries and casinos.
Sales of various lottery tickets and sports betting exceeded 3.28 trillion won each, up 1.4% and 6.5%, respectively, from the year before.
Revenue earned in 2014 by Kangwon Land, the only local casino open to Korean nationals, jumped 10% from the previous year to 1.4 trillion won, while that at foreigner-only casinos increased 0.3% to 1.36 trillion won. The modest gain by foreigner-only casinos comes in the wake of China’s corruption crackdown.
Betting on horse races, meanwhile, fell 0.7% to 7.64 trillion won, which, along with betting on cycling and boat races, declined for the third straight year.
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