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Chinese Millennials Seek Fortune in Lottery Amid Economic Uncertainty

Daniel Kim Views  

中 역대 최악 취업난에 지난해 106조 원 어치 복권 팔렸다…'일확천금 노려'
A video posted by lottery influencer Chenying on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, shows scratching off a stack of lottery tickets. SBS News Capture

Lottery sales in China hit a record high last year, and the game is gaining popularity. Analysts suggest that Chinese youths, struggling with the most severe unemployment crisis ever, are buying lottery tickets to vent societal frustrations and pinning their hopes on striking it rich overnight.

中 역대 최악 취업난에 지난해 106조 원 어치 복권 팔렸다…'일확천금 노려'
China’s Gen Zers are checking their winnings at a lottery shop. mylifemj.1 TikTok Capture

According to a Bloomberg report on the 21st, citing Chinese finance department statistics, total lottery cumulative sales in China last year reached a record 580 billion yuan (approximately $80 billion). Local market research firm MobData revealed that over 80% of lottery buyers are between 18 and 34, a significant increase from just over half in 2020.

The surge in lottery purchases among young Chinese is believed to be influenced by the severe youth unemployment rate. After the youth unemployment rate hit a record high of 21.3% in June last year, China temporarily suspended the statistics announcement in July. The unemployment rate of actual job seekers, excluding middle and high school students, was 15.3% in January, up 0.7 percentage points from the previous month.

Dominic Chiu, a senior analyst at the Eurasia Group, a U.S. research institute, analyzed the lottery craze in China, stating, “People are relying on things like the lottery for wealth and success due to the increasingly tough economic environment and the job market.”

Before COVID-19, lottery sales in China increased when the economy was booming, as blue-collar workers and low-income groups who had extra money when their salaries increased were the main customers. Recently, as the younger generation flocks in, the previously dull lottery shops are changing, transforming into hip places. In Kunming, the capital of southwestern Yunnan Province, a “Lotto Coffee” store has appeared, where you get a free instant lottery ticket with every cup of coffee you order.

Wu Zhehao (18), a freshman in the Film Studies department at Beijing’s China University of International Business and Economics, who recently won 100 yuan (approximately $14) and now buys 30 yuan worth of lottery tickets every day, said, “It’s hard to make money no matter what you do now. I think the chance of getting rich from the lottery is higher than working.” A Chinese netizen also reacted, “It’s more likely to earn 5 million yuan (approximately $688,000) from the lottery than from a job.”

中 역대 최악 취업난에 지난해 106조 원 어치 복권 팔렸다…'일확천금 노려'
Daniel Kim
content@viewusglobal.com

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