China’s national lottery recorded sales of CNY35.85 billion (US$5.35 billion) in September, down 1.5% year-on-year but 3.1% higher than August according to data published by the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
Despite the slight decline over September 2019 sales, the numbers reflect the continuation of a recent resurgence by the national lottery which suffered a 41.7% fall over the first six months of the year as a result of COVID-19 restrictions. Sales for the first nine months of 2020 are now down just 27.0% to CNY230.68 billion (US$34.43 billion).
China’s sports lottery has led the resurgence, with September sales up 5.8% year-on-year to CNY21.90 billion (US$3.27 billion). By comparison, sales of welfare lottery tickets declined 11.1% to CNY13.95 billion (US$2.08 billion).
Year to date the sport lottery is down 25.4% to CNY43.95 billion (US$6.56 billion) while the welfare lottery is down 28.8% to CNY41.18 billion (US$6.15 billion).
The only fully legal forms of gambling in mainland China, proceeds from the China Sports Lottery and China Welfare Lottery are intended for use on various public welfare projects.
