Sales of the Korean lottery Lotto hit their highest last year, statistics from its operator showed Monday, a trend that happens during an economic slump, social analysts say.
Data from the Korea Lottery Commission said Lotto sales reached 3.55 trillion won ($3.04 billion) -- or 3.55 billion tickets -- last year, an increase of 9 percent from the year before. The sales volume was the highest on record since the lottery was first introduced here in 2002.
The monetary amount of sales is also the de facto highest, as the ticket price was halved to 1,000 won from 2,000 won after 2003.
