The World Lottery Association (WLA) has cited “strong performances” from the Asia Pacific and Latin American regions as the main reason for an increase in full-year global lottery sales during the 12 month through to December 31, 2013.

The association said that global lottery sales were up 4.9% in 2013, which follows on from full-year growth of 7.7% in the previous year.

The Latin American market proved to be the most successful market with an aggregate year-on-year increase in sales of 21.4%.

Argentina’s Lotería Nacional Sociedad del Estado was the main driver behind this growth after it experienced a 31.4% rise in sales in 2013.

Elsewhere, the Asia Pacific region also reported a strong year after it reported year-on-year growth of 13.1%.

Chinese lotteries were the main source of this increase with the China Welfare Lottery performing well in particular after posting a 20.2% increase in sales.

The North American market also saw a slight improvement with full-year sales up 2.1% on the previous year. The California Lottery proved to be the standout performer in the region with an 8.8% increase in sales.

While the African region remained relatively flat with just a 0.3% rise in sales, the European region was unable to post any growth and instead suffered a drop in sales.

Lottery sales in the European market decreased 2.1% in 2013, with Greek gambling monopoly OPAP experiencing the sharpest drop with a 15.1% decline in sales.

The only standout performer in the European region was the Czech Republic’s SAZKA sázková kancelář, which enjoyed year-on-year sales growth of 25.6%.

Jean Jørgensen, executive director of the WLA, said that despite an ongoing rise in sales, the growth has now slowed for two consecutive years and the industry should adopt a “cautious” outlook on future sales.

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