With ticket sales now averaging $7.8 million a day, the N.C. Education Lottery just crossed the sales milestone of $25 billion.

The achievement occurred Saturday, Dec. 14, on the Education Lottery’s 5,008thj day of sales. So far, the lottery has increased its ticket sales every year of its operations.

“Our lottery couldn’t have sales like this without the support of so many North Carolinians who enjoy our games,” said Mark Michalko, executive director of the N.C. Education Lottery. “The fun of lottery games let players dream a little. As our sales grow, so does the money raised for education, and that money supports a lot of dreams too.”

From those sales, the Education Lottery has produced:

• $15.3 billion in prizes for lottery players. Those prizes including five Powerball and two Mega Millions jackpots. North Carolina lottery players have won prizes of $1 million or more 563 times.
• $6.9 billion in money raised for education programs in North Carolina. The lottery now raises more than $700 million a year for its good cause.
• $1.7 billion in commissions to retailers who sell lottery tickets. Tickets sales happen daily at more than 7,000 locations across the state.

Lottery ticket sales started on March 30, 2006. The lottery’s portfolio of games ranges from instant games, which produced more than 66 percent of its revenue last year to seven draw games. Its Lucke-Rewards program, which offers weekly and monthly drawings for cash, has grown to more than 1 million members statewide.