Vietnam's lottery industry has posted an annual growth rate of 22 percent in recent years, with its revenue last year accounting for 2.4 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), local media reported Friday.

Vietnam's lottery revenue was 20,124 billion Vietnamese dong ( nearly 1,266 million U.S. dollars) in 2005, with up to 89 percent of the amount coming from the southern region, Youth newspaper quoted the latest report of the Finance Ministry.

The country now has 63 state-owned lottery companies with total workforce of some 235,000, and 35 enterprises of different economic sectors offering certain forms of lottery and betting services like horse or dog racing. It plans to add new forms of lottery and sports betting services by 2010, the newspaper said.

Like other kinds of gambling, except for casinos designated for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese, soccer betting is now illegal in Vietnam. Dozens of local bettors and bookmakers are detained during major national and international soccer tournaments.

Source: Xinhua