BEIJING -- China's lottery ticket sales rose 15.8 percent year-on-year to 27.34 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) in May, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance on Thursday.

Among them, welfare lottery sales reached 15.19 billion yuan, a rise of 8.4 percent compared to the same period last year, while sales of sports lottery tickets gained 26.5 percent to 12.15 billion yuan.

The ministry attributed the jump to new lottery games going on sale, the promotion of quiz-style games and more outlets for online lottery games.

In the first five months of 2013, total lottery sales increased 16.3 percent year-on-year to 124.96 billion yuan, the data showed.

Welfare lottery sales rose 13.4 percent from a year earlier during the January-May period, while sports lottery sales climbed 20.3 percent, said the ministry.

The money raised through lotteries is divided into three parts under the country's regulations on lottery management: the jackpot, lottery management fees and public lottery funds.