The average Korean has spent about 73,000 won ($67) per year on average in buying “Lotto,” the best-selling lottery ticket issued by the nation’s largest lottery operator Nanum Lotto, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said on Monday.

Fluctuations in the sales history of the national lottery meet the unspoken rule that Lotto is a hidden barometer for the nation’s real economy.

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of foundation, Nanum Lotto was first issued in December 2002, when its average annual sales were miniscule ― 3.6 billion won in total, translating into about 6,900 won per capita.

Back then sales were so low that six of the first nine games did not yield jackpot winners, the ministry said.

After the ninth game, however, the undistributed betting money began to pile up and draw people’s attention.

Finally in the 10th game, Nanum Lotto raked 260 billion won in total sales.

The ministry said that the best annual sales record was in April 2003, as the winner hit the 40.7 billion won jackpot ― the largest Lotto jackpot so far. That year Koreans spent up to an average 100,000 won per capita.

The nation’s “Lotto fever” soon dropped again, however, until global economic growth sank in 2009, after which the fever took on a second wind and has flourished ever since.

According to the ministry’s statistics of 2008, Koreans spend relatively less money ― about $69 per year ― on the lottery than people of the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, who spend about three times as much, or $204 per year.

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)