Lotto Marks 23rd Year with Annual Sales Surpassing 3 Trillion Won... Highest First Prize at 40.7 Billion Won

Average Annual Lotto Sales Reach 3.4415 Trillion Won from 2002 to 2024

The average annual sales of the "Lotto 6/45" lottery, now in its 23rd year since its launch, have surpassed 3 trillion won.

According to data received by Park Dae-chul, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the Ministry of Economy and Finance's Lottery Commission, the average annual sales of Lotto from 2002 to 2024 amounted to 3.4415 trillion won.

Lotto 6/45 operates by randomly drawing six numbers out of 45, with the odds of winning the first prize known to be about 1 in 8,145,060.

Lotto. (This photo is not directly related to the article.) Pixabay

Lotto 6/45 was first sold in 2002. At that time, sales reached only 20.8 billion won, but the following year, in 2003, sales soared to 3.8242 trillion won.

Last year, 5.9562 trillion won worth of tickets were sold. From 2002 to last year, the average annual sales reached 3.4415 trillion won. During this period, the average first prize payout was 9.78 billion won.

The highest jackpot was 40.723 billion won in April 2003. The lowest first prize payout was 410 million won in May 2013.

In addition, over the past five years, the average number of first prize winners per year was 10 in 2020, 11 in 2021, 13 in 2022, 12 in 2023, and 15 last year.

The average first prize payout was 2.15 billion won in 2020, 2.18 billion won in 2021, 1.98 billion won in 2022, 2.11 billion won in 2023, and 1.86 billion won in 2024.

For Lotto winnings, amounts up to 2 million won are entirely tax-free. Amounts between 2 million and 300 million won are subject to a 22% tax. For winnings exceeding 300 million won, a total tax of 33% is applied, which includes a 30% income tax and a 3% local tax.

Fifty percent of Lotto sales are allocated for prize payouts, while the remainder is used for business expenses and government projects such as the Lottery Fund. These include support for housing stability for low-income households, welfare programs for marginalized groups such as people with disabilities and at-risk youth, and allocations to ten legally designated distribution agencies, including the Science and Technology Promotion Fund and the Small and Medium Business Start-up and Promotion Fund.

Meanwhile, in the 1,193rd Donghaeng Lottery Lotto drawing held on the 11th, the winning numbers for the first prize were '6, 9, 16, 19, 24, 28'. The bonus number for the second prize was '17'.