China’s Welfare and Sports lotteries generated 382.37 billion yuan in combined sales in 2014 (US$61.98 billion), an aggregate increase year on year of more than 49.4%.
According to reports by China Daily and state news agency Xinhua, the Sports Lottery benefited from the summer’s World Cup betting and expanded online options to grow its take by more than 32% to 176.41 billion yuan. The Welfare Lottery saw slower growth, up 16.67%, but still accounted for the majority of total revenues at 205.96 billion yuan.
“Large international sport events, including the World Cup, became major factors in boosting sales of lotteries, especially via the Internet,” Radio Guangdong sports commentator Xie Liang told China Daily.
Lotteries targeted at specific sports events or competitions by 81.7% year on year, to 61.48 billion yuan. Online sales also increased sharply, with a growing number of Internet service providers posting significant revenue increases.
According to CaiTong Consulting, a domestic lottery consulting firm, lottery sales for the Asian Cup, currently under way in Australia, have reached nearly 2 billion yuan through 18th January, a new weekly record since the World Cup.
The year saw the Welfare Lottery contribute 57 billion yuan to public causes, according to the China Welfare Lottery Issuing and Management Center, with the majority of funds earmarked for social insurance programs, poverty relief, initiatives for the disabled and charitable donations.
The Welfare Lottery was founded in 1987. The Sports Lottery was introduced three years later to raise funds for the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing.
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