Global lottery sales bounced back from a slow start to 2013 to show an increase of 4.6% in the first half, driven by a strong second quarter in Asia and the Americas.
Figures released by the World Lottery Association show that Latin America was home to the standout markets during the January-June period, with aggregate sales up 24.6% compared to the first six months of 2012. Argentina’s Lotería Nacional Sociedad del Estado, which has recorded consistently strong growth the last two years, posted a 31% increase. The popularity of bingo in Buenos Aires was a major contributor, the WLA said. Brazil’s Caixa Econômica Federal also enjoyed healthy growth, reporting an increase of 12.5%, bolstered by several special draws, including an inaugural Lotomania de Páscoa.
Sales were up sharply across the Asia-Pacific region as well, 11.1% year on year, driven by China’s two massive operators—the Sports Lottery, which posted a 19.6% increase to CNY10.54 billion (US$1.72 billion), and the Welfare Lottery, up 13.4% to CNY10.11 billion ($1.65 billion). Both benefited from a restructuring of their businesses, the WLA said, highlighted by new instant games and the introduction of pilot VLT programs in some areas.
Significantly, the association noted, the Welfare Lottery is poised to overtake Italy’s Lottomatica to become the world’s largest lottery by sales volume.
North American sales recovered during the second quarter to post an overall increase of 9.4%, buoyed by a historic $656 million Mega Millions jackpot in the United States and a strong performance from the California Lottery, which joined the multistate Powerball draw in June and promptly saw its second-quarter sales grow by 24.1% year on year. A $590 million Powerball jackpot was paid the same month.
Europe, which continues to be challenged by a sluggish macroeconomic picture, registered a modest improvement in the second quarter to overcome a 2.8% first-quarter drop and post an overall decline of 1.7% for the half. Major operators such as Greece’s OPAP and Spain’s LAE and ONCE finished the period with more sizable year-on-year declines.
The African markets were essentially flat year on year at minus-0.7% in the first half but managed to recover from a 3.2% first-quarter decline with help from a strong April-June in South Africa, where the National Lottery grew sales by 11.1%
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