Deutscher Lotto-und Totoblock (DLTB), the German state lottery association, marked a 1.2 percent year-on-year decline in revenues for 2019. Players wagered €7.3 billion (US$8.1 billion) across the country’s 16 state lotteries.
Despite the downturn, Jürgen Hafner, managing director of Lotto Rheinland-Pfalz and current chairman of the DLTB, said he is “very satisfied” with last year’s figures. According to iGamingBusiness.om, Hafner attributed the decrease to variations in the amount of Eurojackpot prizes.
In 2018, Eurojackpot saw sales increase 61 percent. But it had fewer large prizes in 2019, for a 14.4 percent decline. Hafner said a dip was to be expected after the previous year’s “extraordinary” growth.
In 2019, the Lotto 6aus49 was most popular with players and accounted for almost half €3.5 billion of all sales. Hafner called it a “good starting point” for an upgraded product in 2020. The game will offer more high jackpots, to be financed by an increase in ticket prices to €1.20 per line.
Online lotteries saw an 11.6 percent year-on-year increase, with €651 million worth of tickets sold.
State lotteries paid €2.9 billion in taxes and fees in 2019, funds that are used for a range of social causes, such as welfare, sports and cultural initiatives, the preservation of monuments and environmental protection.
“These are funds that good causes in our country would have to do without if the state lottery companies did not exist,” he said.
