HO CHI MINH CITY, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- All 21 lottery companies in Vietnam's southern region, home to most of the country's biggest lottery firms, operated profitably, gaining total revenues of 91,880 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 4.1 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, up 7.2 percent against 2016.

The 21 companies contributed 24,158 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 1.1 billion U.S. dollars) to the state budget, and paid 34,049 billion Vietnamese dong (1.5 billion U.S. dollars) to lottery winners, according to the Southern Lottery Council on Monday.

Last year, among all lottery tickets issued by the 21 firms, 77 percent were sold, up nearly 6 percent against 2016. Specifically, Tien Giang and Tay Ninh were the two provinces with the highest lottery purchase rate of over 92 percent each, and Binh Phuoc province with the lowest rate of 36 percent.

Binh Phuoc Lottery Company reaped profits of 155 billion Vietnamese dong (over 6.8 million U.S. dollars) in 2017.