Pa. Lottery Achieves Record Sales

The 2011-12 fiscal year was the Pennsylvania Lottery's most successful in its 41-year history, as the Lottery set new records for annual sales and profits, generating more than $1 billion for programs benefiting older Pennsylvanians.

Do you play the lottery? Tell us in the comments section below.

Fiscal year 2011-12 Lottery sales totaled $3.48 billion, which was $273 million, or 8.5 percent, above the previous year and prior all-time sales record.

Net revenue to the Lottery Fund for fiscal year 2011-12 totaled $1.06 billion, which was $100 million, or 10.4 percent, more than the previous year and $85 million, or 8.7 percent, more than the previous profit record achieved in fiscal year 2005-06.

The Lottery ended fiscal year 2011-12 with more than 9,100 retailers, a record for the modern-era Lottery that simultaneously sells terminal-based products and dozens of instant games. Lottery retailers, many of them family-owned small businesses, earned $183.9 million in commissions in fiscal year 2011-12.

The funds generated by the Pennsylvania Lottery this fiscal year helped support programs that provide services such as Older Adult Protective Services, in-home personal care, free transportation, meals, tax rebates and prescription drug assistance to thousands of older Pennsylvanians.

About the Pennsylvania Lottery: The Pennsylvania Lottery remains the only U.S. lottery that designates all its proceeds to programs that benefit older residents.  Since its 1971 inception, the Pennsylvania Lottery has generated more than $22.5 billion for programs including property tax and rent rebates; free transit and reduced-fare shared rides; the low-cost prescription drug programs PACE and PACENET; long-term living services, and the 52 Area Agencies on Aging, including full- and part-time senior centers throughout the state. The Pennsylvania Lottery reminds its players to play responsibly. Players must be 18 or older.