China's lottery sales fall 2.5 pct in November

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's lottery ticket sales fell 2.5 percent year on year to 50.54 billion yuan (about 7.12 billion U.S. dollars) in November, data from the Ministry of Finance showed on Thursday.

Sales of lottery tickets to support the country's welfare system reached 16.94 billion yuan last month, an increase of 29.5 percent from a year earlier, the data revealed.

Lottery ticket sales to support the sports industry decreased 13.3 percent year on year to about 33.6 billion yuan, the ministry said.

The decline in lottery ticket sales in November was mainly due to last year's high base of comparison, according to the ministry.

In the first 11 months of 2023, sales of lottery tickets in China totaled 526.41 billion yuan, up 45.1 percent year on year.

Under China's lottery management rules, funds raised from ticket sales are used for administrative expenses and public welfare projects, and to fund prizes.