The New Jersey Lottery Commission recently announced that unaudited sales for the 2022 fiscal year, which ended June 30, totaled $3.634 billion. That’s the second-highest amount in lottery history; the 2021 fiscal year saw $3.683 billion in sales.

As of June 30, 2022, the lottery had contributed $1.074 billion in profits to support the public-employee pension system. Over the past five years, the lottery has averaged contributions of over $1 billion annually to the state.

The almost 7,000 New Jersey Lottery retailers, largely small businesses, took in commissions and bonuses of $210 million-plus in the 2022 fiscal year.

Sales of Scratch-Off games exceeded $2 billion for the second year in a row. A player favorite was the new $5 Big Spin ticket, which allows grand prize winners to attend an in-person event where they spin a mechanical wheel to determine the amount of their grand prize.

While sales were down slightly compared with last year, several games saw an uptick. Pick-6 with Double Play had sales of $62.82 million and benefited from changes that boosted sales by 11%. Powerball added a third drawing each week, goosing sales this year to $241 million, a 37.5% increase over the previous year.

The lottery is the state’s fifth-largest revenue producer. Since it began in 1970, the lottery has contributed over $31 billion to the state. Profits help bolster the public-employee pension system for teachers, police, fire personnel and other public employees under a 30-year agreement signed into law in 2017.