Lottery sales rose to 34.889 billion yuan (5.32 billion US dollars) in April, up 7 percent year on year, it was announced Thursday.

Welfare lottery sales decreased by 0.8 percent to reach 17.95 billion yuan, while the sports lottery gained 16.6 percent to 16.939 billion yuan, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced.

From January to April, lottery tickets worth 125.673 billion yuan were sold, a year-on-year decrease of 1.4 percent.

April's lottery sales in south China's Guangdong Province rose by 4.24 billion yuan from a year ago, while Hunan, Yunnan, Henan and Shaanxi provinces also posted large increases, according to the MOF.

Under lottery management rules, money from ticket sales must cover administrative fees and public welfare projects as well as the jackpot.