BEIJING - Lottery sales dropped to 30.81 billion yuan ($5.03 billion) in March, down 6.3 percent year on year, official data showed on Wednesday.

Welfare lottery sales decreased by 5 percent to reach 17.82 billion yuan, while the sports lottery slipped 8 percent to 12.99 billion yuan, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced.

From January to March, some 94.84 billion yuan's worth of lottery tickets were sold, a year-on-year increase of 18.5 percent.

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

Last year saw 382.38 billion yuan spent on lottery tickets, up 23.6 percent from 2013, according to the MOF.

Earlier this month, the MOF banned unauthorized online lottery sales.

Some Internet companies have been selling fake lottery tickets, according to the MOF.

Online lottery sales must now be officially approved by authorities including the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the General Administration of Sport and the Ministry of Finance.