Lottery sales rose 25.1 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of 2012 to reach 149.25 billion yuan ($23.69 billion).
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Friday that in July sales went up 10.9 percent year-on-year to 20.2 billion yuan.
Welfare lottery ticket sales hit 87.56 billion yuan during the January-July period, up 24.6 percent from a year ago, while sales of sports lottery tickets gained 25.6 percent year-on-year to 61.69 billion yuan. The MOF attributed the July climb to new lottery games going on sale, rising outlets for quiz-style games and frequent sports events in the period.