BEIJING -- Lottery sales in China rose 27.6 percent year-on-year in the first six months to reach 129.06 billion yuan ($20.49 billion), the Ministry of Finance said Wednesday.

In June alone, sales went up 23.8 percent from a year earlier to 21.61 billion yuan, the MOF said in an online statement.

Welfare lottery ticket sales reached 75.2 billion yuan in the first half of the year, up 27.5 percent from a year ago, while sales of sports lottery tickets gained 27.8 percent year on year to 53.86 billion yuan.

The MOF attributed the increase in June to new lottery games going on sale and increasing outlets for quiz-style games, as well as the opening of the European Cup.

It said all Chinese provincial-level regions, excluding Beijing, reported year-on-year gains in lottery sales during the January-June period.

According to China's Regulations on Lottery Management, money raised through lotteries is divided into three parts: the jackpot, lottery management fees and public lottery funds.