China Lottery Sales Rise 19.8% to CNY63.99B as Sports Products Drive Growth

China's lottery market generated CNY63.99 billion ($9.47 billion) in ticket sales in August 2026, up 19.8% year on year, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.

The entire increase came from China Sports Lottery, where sales reached CNY48.18 billion ($7.13 billion), an increase of 33.4% compared with August 2025.

China Welfare Lottery moved in the opposite direction. Sales fell 8.5% year on year to CNY15.81 billion ($2.34 billion).

Sports Lottery products accounted for approximately 75% of all lottery sales during the month.

Football and Basketball Products Reach CNY36.81B

The strongest growth came from lottery products linked to the results of football and basketball matches.

Sales in the category reached CNY36.81 billion ($5.45 billion), up 53.9% year on year.

That represented 57.5% of China's entire lottery market in August and more than three quarters of China Sports Lottery sales.

The figures underline how closely the country's lottery performance has become tied to sports-related products.

While most forms of commercial gambling remain prohibited in mainland China, the state-administered Sports Lottery provides a legal channel for consumers to place predictions on selected sporting events.

August Cools After World Cup Sales Spike

August represented a significant slowdown from the exceptional volumes recorded during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Chinese lottery sales reached CNY87.57 billion ($12.95 billion) in July, when the tournament was at its peak.

That was 68.6% higher than a year earlier and approximately 37% above the August total.

On a month-to-month basis, sales consequently fell by around 27% in August as World Cup-driven demand subsided.

The year-on-year increase of almost 20% nevertheless indicates that activity remained well above its 2025 level even after the tournament ended.

The comparison also highlights the importance of major football events to China Sports Lottery. Match-related products remained the largest single segment of the market after the World Cup boost disappeared.

Instant Lottery Sales Fall 18.2%

Not every lottery category benefited from the increase in sports activity.

Instant lottery sales declined 18.2% year on year to CNY8.77 billion ($1.30 billion) in August.

The decline accompanied the 8.5% contraction at China Welfare Lottery and reinforces the concentration of overall market growth in sports-related products.

Rather than representing a broad increase across lottery categories, August's headline growth was driven principally by football and basketball prediction sales.

Eight-Month Sales Reach CNY478.43B

For the first eight months of 2026, Chinese lottery sales totalled CNY478.43 billion ($70.8 billion), an increase of 13% year on year.

That already represents approximately 76% of the CNY627.97 billion generated during the whole of 2025.

China's lottery market grew only 0.7% across 2025, making the 13% increase recorded through August 2026 a substantial acceleration.

The key question for the remainder of the year will be how much of that expansion can be maintained without the World Cup effect.

August provides an early indication. Total sales fell sharply from July's tournament-driven record but remained substantially above the previous year's level, largely because sports-related lottery products continued to attract significantly higher spending.