Korea lottery sales hit 11-year high in 2015

Sales of lottery tickets in Korea reached the highest in 11 years in 2015, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

Sales of lottery tickets totaled KRW3.26 trillion (US $2.7 billion) in 2015, up 6.8 percent from 2014 and the highest since 2004 which had sales totalling KRW3.3 trillion.

According to the Chosun Ilbo, the lottery began in Korea 2002, but the prize money was slashed after concerns emerged about the highly speculative nature of the lottery tickets, causing lottery sales to fall under KRW3 trillion in 2005 and to continue to shrink.

However, after the 2008 financial crisis, sales began to rise again.  According to the Korean English news outlet, experts say a growing number of people seem to be pinning their hopes on the jackpot amid a tough job market and increasing jitters over job security, which would mean that lotto sales are inversely proportional to the economy.

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