BEIJING - China's lottery sales slumped 16.8 percent year on year to 32.64 billion yuan ($5.03 billion) in January, official data showed on Friday.

Welfare lottery sales decreased by 7.9 percent to 18.13 billion yuan, while sports lottery sales tumbled 25.7 percent to 14.51 billion yuan, the Ministry of Finance announced.

Despite the overall downward trend, 11 provincial-level regions saw their lottery sales rise, with Hubei, Henan, Fujian, Yunnan, and Jiangsu climbing the most.

The sales revenues are used to cover administrative fees as well as the jackpot, and the rest to improve social welfare and sports facilities.