(Yicai) July 29 -- The enthusiasm for the 2026 FIFA World Cup buoyed China’s sports lottery sales, which nearly doubled in June to set a new monthly record.

China’s sports lottery sales surged 96 percent to CNY47.7 billion (USD7 billion) last month from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance announced yesterday. As some World Cup games were held at the beginning of July, the market is expected to maintain strong growth this month as well.

Sports lottery sales during the past few editions of the World Cup also experienced double-digit growth in the first month of the tournament, Yicai learned from historic data.

Nearly CNY76 billion worth of lottery tickets were sold in China last month, an increase of 40 percent from the same period last year, MOF data also showed. Of that, sports lottery institutions achieved sales of CNY59.2 billion, up 63 percent in the period.

In recent years, China’s lottery sales have expanded at a slower pace, with the trend also visible in the first five months of this year. But thanks to June’s strong performance, sales of lottery tickets in the country rose 2.8 percent to CNY326.9 billion (USD48.3 billion) in the first half from a year earlier.

Editor: Futura Costaglione