Lottery Sales Surge Amid Slump

Lottery sales in South Korea jumped 12 percent during the first quarter from a year earlier amid a protracted economic slump, Yonhap News Agency reported Friday, quoting a government report.

According to the report by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, lottery sales in the January-March period amounted to 643.5 billion won ($481 million), compared with 575.4 billion won in the same quarter a year earlier.

Sales of the most popular Lotto lottery advanced 12.8 percent to 615.6 billion won, while paper and Internet-based lottery sales declined 6.4 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively, to 16 billion won and 11.9 billion won.

The ministry said people often tend to try and avoid hardship by betting on the lottery, especially when the economy is in a slump. Playing the lottery is also cheaper and more convenient than betting on horse and cycle races, it added.

South Korea's economy has been hit hard by a credit crisis and global recession that began last summer, driving down exports and domestic demand. The economy, Asia's fourth-largest, is expected to contract 2 percent this year, the first minus growth in more than a decade.