Lottery activity in South Korea surged in 2016 despite, or because of, a souring economy.

Official lottery figures won’t released until February, but Monday brought the release of a survey by the Korea Lottery Commission under the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, which showed nearly 56% of participants purchased at least one lottery product in 2016. Lotto, the country’s most popular lottery product, reported sales rising 9% in 2016 to KRW 3.55t (US $3b), a new record.

Lottery participation among those making less than KRW 2m (US $1,700) per month nearly doubled to 10.2%, which critics are already slamming as an indication of the lottery preying on those with the least discretionary income.

However, Ministry officials said there was “no proven correlation between economic slowdowns and lottery sales,” and the figures showed the highest lottery participation rate (52.1%) among individuals in the highest economic bracket (over KRW 4m/month) and the second-highest participation (24.1%) among those making between KRW 3m-4m.