Notes

World Lottery Association- Global lottery sales slowed further in the nine months through to September 2015, with aggregate 9M on 9M growth moderating to 2.5% from half-year on half-year growth of 4.6% and first-quarter on first-quarter growth of 8%. Strong growth in the Americas was counterpointed by sales growth in the Asia Pacific and European regions, where sales essentially held steady.To streamline the lottery procurement process, which is notoriously costly and time consuming, the WLA has worked with NASPL, operators, suppliers and independent consultants to develop a Best Practice for lottery RFPs. The Global RFP Best Practice provides comprehensive guidance and standardization of lottery procurements while fully accounting for the legislation in the respective lottery's jurisdiction. Following the Best Practice will make it simpler, faster and cheaper to develop a successful RFP, obtaining responsive proposals and conduct the evaluation of those proposals. To watch a short movie that explains how the complex RFP process can be simplified with the WLA RFP Template, please click on the thumbnail or read more.Once again, the Latin American region was the strongest performer, with participating Latin American lotteries reporting an aggregate increase in sales of 19.2% for the first three quarters of 2015, as against the first three quarters of 2014. Continuing its dominant run, Argentina’s Lotería Nacional Sociedad del Estado was the strongest performer, reporting an increase in sales of 25.4% for the period January–September 2015, as against the period January–September 2014. Building on very strong first half sales of their flagship Lotto product, Chile's Polla Chilena also performed robustly, with sales at the Chilean national lottery increasing 12.4% over the nine months through to September 2015, versus the nine months through to September 2014. Elsewhere in Latin America, sales at Brazil’s Caixa Econômica Federal grew 4.1% over the same time period, while Mexico’s Lotería National para la Asistencia Pública broke even.

Bettering its robust first half showing, the North American market also enjoyed a strong three-quarters on three-quarters. Participating North American lotteries swept the board with positive results, resulting an aggregate 9M on 9M increase in sales of 7.6%. Yet again, the standout performer in the North American region was the California Lottery, which enjoyed an increase in sales of 15.9% over the period January–September 2015, as against the period January–September 2014. Canada’s Ontario Lottery and Gaming also enjoyed double-digit growth over the same timeframe, reporting an increase in sales of 10.1%. The Kentucky Lottery, Florida Lottery, and the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation all also performed strongly, reporting 9M on 9M increases in sales of 8.8%, 7.7%, and 6.9% respectively. Similarly, sales at the Connecticut Lottery and the Minnesota State Lottery grew by 6.5% and 6.1% respectively over the same period. Seemingly underpinning the series of positive results reported from North America was a rise in U.S. consumer spending, with real GDP increasing to 2.1% in the third quarter of 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis second estimate.

In Africa, the picture was more varied. Overall, African lotteries participating in the WLA Quarterly Lottery Sales Indicator reported an aggregate increase in sales of 3.6% for Q1–Q3 2015, as against Q1–Q3 2014. Continuing its strong recent form, Ghana’s National Lottery Authority reported an increase in sales of 25% for the period January–September 2015, as against the corresponding revenue period in 2014. Both Moroccan lotteries also fared well, with La Marocaine des Jeux seeing its 9M on 9M sales increase by 13.7% and Loterie Nationale seeing its sales rise by 7.1%. Offsetting these results, sales at the Mauritius National Lottery contracted sharply over the period January–September 2015, as against the corresponding revenue period of 2014.

The picture in Europe was also nuanced. Once again, participating European lotteries eked out an aggregate increase in sales, this time of 0.6% for Q1–Q3 2015, as against Q1–Q3 2014. Although sales essentially held steady across Europe as a whole, several European lotteries nonetheless recorded stellar double-digit growth. In particular, the Czech Republic’s SAZKA a.s., Poland’s Totalizator Sportowy, and Hungary’s Szerencsejáték Zrt. continued their impressive half-year form, reporting 9M on 9M increases in sales of 25.6%, 24.3%, and 17.5% respectively. The results from the central European lotteries were all the more impressive given Europe’s continuing muted economic performance, where (according to Eurostat’s second estimate) seasonally adjusted GDP rose by a colorless 0.4% across both the euro area (EA19) and EU28 over the third quarter of 2015. Counterbalancing these positive results, sales at Italy’s Lottomatica contracted over the period January–September 2015, as against the period January–September 2014.

In the Asia Pacific region, sales moderated again, with the result that participating Asia Pacific lotteries saw 9M on 9M sales contract by 0.3%. The moderation in sales was most notable with respect to the mainland Chinese lotteries, with the China Sports Lottery recording a 9M on 9M decrease in sales of 4.7%, and the Chinese Welfare lottery reporting a 9M on 9M decrease in sales of 1%. In particular, sales of the Guess Lottery (sports betting) were down by 68.2% in July 2015, as compared to July 2014, probably reflecting the influence of the 2014 FIFA World Cup on 2014 sales. Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region, Australia’s Lotterywest saw its sales increase by 3.8% for the first nine months of 2015, as against the first nine months of 2014, while Japan’s Takara-kuji lottery saw its sales hold steady over the same timeframe.