China’s lottery revenue reached CNY47.34 billion (£5.26 billion/€6.06 billion/$6.63 billion) in October, up 59.3% year-on-year but the lowest Value for eight months.

The value was well over CNY29.72 billion in October last year. However, lottery revenue reported in China in September was 10.3% lower than CNY52.77 billion.

It was also the lowest total monthly sales since posting CNY41.83 billion in February.

Breaking down performance in October, sports lottery sales rose 70.1% year-on-year to CNY31.85 billion. Another CNY15.49 billion came from social lottery sales, an increase of 40.9%.

Betting leads the way in October with sales of over CNY 32.23 billion

In terms of the types of games played by consumers, betting games remained the most popular among players in October. These games accounted for revenue of CNY18.98 billion, an increase of 67.4%.

Digital lottery revenue also increased by 15.0% to CNY 13.70 billion over the month. However, the instant lottery market recorded the highest growth. Revenue rose 167.6% year-on-year to CNY11.44 billion in October.

It was also noted that Keno game revenue reached CNY 3.22 billion, an increase of 47.1%. Video lottery revenue increased 8.0% to CNY 90,000.

In terms of geographical performance, China recorded growth in all of its provinces during the month.

Year-to-date sales in China reach CNY

Looking at the current year, total lottery sales in the ten months ended October were CNY475.88 billion. That was 53.0% more than at the same time in 2022.

The sports lottery led the way with total revenue of CNY 315.85 billion, up 68.2% year-on-year. Social lotteries revenue also increased by 29.9% to CNY 160.03 billion.

Taking into account game types, betting generated the most revenue at CNY 203.92 billion during the reporting period. This was 90.8% more than the previous year and accounted for 42.8% of all sales in China.

Digital lotteries revenue increased 12.2% to CNY143.45 billion and instant lottery revenue increased 87.8% to CNY98.23 billion. Another CNY30.38 billion came from keno sales, up 12.2%, while CNY1.3 million came from video lottery sales.

Meanwhile, as in October, lottery sales increased year-on-year in all provinces in China.