Lotto sprees soar as French fork out

THE French spend on average more than €500 a year on games of chance, according to figures reported in local media.

At a time when the US lottery Powerball jackpot has spiralled to a record $1.5billion, French games of chance are clocking up astronomical figures of their own – with a total of €1.1billion a month spent on scratch cards, lottery tickets and the like.

The figures are based on a report published in Le Parisien, which found that 26million people in France spent an average of €10 a week on games of chance – despite the troubled economic climate. That works out at about €13.5billion a year – more than the entire GDP of a small country such as Monaco.

National lottery operator La Française des Jeux said that 2015, which saw 149 participants winning €1million or more, had been a record year for revenue.

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