Lotteries in Colombia

In a previous note, we looked at lotteries in Puerto Rico.  There, we found a popular state-sanctioned lottery system running under government supervision.   We were careful to point out the historical circumstances that created the Puerto Rican lottery system, and we do not expect other countries to have identical systems.  In this note, we will look at some lottery participation data from the TGI Colombia study.  This is a consumer survey of 7,035 persons in Colombia conducted by IBOPE Columbia during 1999. 

According to the TGI Colombia study, 45% of all persons between the ages of 12 and 64 played the lottery within the last 12 months.  This study is a little bit lower than the 55% we found in Puerto Rico.  Demographically, the lottery players are distributed as follows:

Demographic Group

 % purchased lottery tickets in last 12 months
Sex
     Male
     Female
52%
40%
Age
     12-19
     20-24
     25-34
     35-44
     45-54
     55-64
31%
34%
51%
58%
62%
56%
Socio-economic Level
     Alto (6,5,4)
     Medio (3)
     Bajo (2)
45%
45%
45%
Region
     Antioquia
     Bogota
     Cafetero
     Caribe
     Centro
     Oriente
     Pacifico
40%
38%
58%
51%
40%
56%
50%
TOTAL 45%

(source: TGI Colombia, IBOPE Colombia)

The Colombian lottery player is more likely to be a middle-aged male person coming from all socio-economic classes.  There seems to be substantial differences by geographical region.  This spatial variation is due to the fact that there is not just one national lottery, but many many local lotteries.  In the next table, we show the ten post popular lottery systems in Colombia.

Lottery Name

 Number of people played in last 12 months 
(in thousands of persons)
Bogota 1553
Nueve Millonaria 1233
Chance 1232
Boyaca 1027
Cruz Roja   961
Atlantico   867
Valle   773
Medellin   759
Santander   687
Cundinamarca   600

(source: TGI Colombia, IBOPE Colombia)

In a way, it is understandable that a relatively vast country such as Colombia could not have a single national lottery system as it becomes difficult to coordinate, distribute and pay out.  But from the opposing viewpoint, having too many different local lotteries means smaller total prizes and looser controls.  As an example of the latter, a number of officials at the Nueve Millonaria lottery were recently charged with forging lottery tickets in order to claim prize money.  This reminds us of a short story from Borges:

My father would tell how once, long ago --- centuries? years? --- the lottery in Babylon was a game played by commoners.  He would tell (though whether this is true or not, I cannot say) how barbers would take a man's copper coins and give back rectangles made of bone or parchment and adorned with symbols.  Then, in broad daylight, a drawing would be held; those smiled upon by fate would, with no further corroboration by chance, win coins minted of silver.  The procedure, as you can see, was rudimentary.

Naturally, those so-called "lotteries" were a failure.  They had no moral force whatsoever; they appealed not to a man's faculties, but only to his hopefulness.  Public indifference soon meant that merchants who had founded these venal lotteries began to lose money.

The Lottery of Babylon, Jorge Luis Borges

(posted by Roland Soong on 12/9/99)

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