Koreans chase jackpot dreams in record numbers
Lottery sales reach an all-time high of 5.95 trillion won in 2024
Despite the long odds, Koreans are betting big on the lottery, with Lotto sales soaring to nearly 6 trillion won ($4.16 billion) last year.
According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and DongHang Lottery — the firm designated by the Ministry of Economy and Finance to operate the national lottery —Lotto sales reached an all-time high of 5.95 trillion won in 2024.
'The explosive increase in lottery sales, which are mainly purchased by the working class, shows how difficult the current economy is,' said Rep. Shin Yeong-dae of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea who obtained the data.
The game gained massive popularity in 2003, just a year after its launch, with sales hitting 3.8 trillion won that year.
However, concerns over excessive gambling led the government to introduce regulations. One rule capped jackpot rollovers at twice the amount — if there was no top winner for three consecutive weeks, the prize would go to the next tier of winners.
Additionally, in 2004, the price of a single Lotto ticket was reduced from 2,000 won to 1,000 won, causing annual sales to dip below 3 trillion won.
Despite these restrictions, sales have steadily climbed over the years, surpassing 3 trillion won again in 2014, crossing the 4 trillion mark in 2019, and exceeding 5 trillion won in 2021.
At this pace, sales are projected to top 6 trillion won by 2026.
Meanwhile, in 2024, there were 763 jackpot winners.
The largest payout of the year came on Nov. 23, when eight winners split first prize, receiving 3.32 billion won each. The most winners in a single draw occurred on July 13, with 63 people sharing the top prize, each taking home 420 million won.
The busiest week for Lotto sales was leading up to the Feb. 10 drawing, with 126.6 billion won worth of tickets sold. In contrast, the slowest sales week was before the Aug. 3 drawing, when sales dipped to 109.1 billion won.
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