Photo: Yonhap News
Sales of lottery tickets in South Korea jumped to a 15-year high in the first half of the year amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Data from the finance ministry and the Korea Lottery Commission showed Wednesday that lottery sales hit 2.6 trillion won in the January to June period, up 11.1 percent from a year earlier.
The first-half growth rate marks the highest on-year rise since the 17.7 percent surge in 2012.
The ministry attributed it to the economic slump brought on by the spread of COVID-19, as lottery ticket sales are often robust during an economic depression.
Lotto, the most popular offline lottery ticket, accounted for the bulk of the sales over the cited period, amounting to 2.3 trillion won.
Sales of pension-type lottery tickets rocketed 68.2 percent on-year to 85.5 billion won, according to the data.
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