Unclaimed lottery prizes have topped 100 billion won over the past three years in South Korea, government data showed Tuesday.

According to the lottery committee of the finance ministry, a total of 138.3 billion won ($125.8 million) in prize money from Lotto, the most popular offline lottery ticket, has been unclaimed by lottery winners in the 2013-2015 period.

Out of the 18 million prizewinners who failed to receive their winnings, 13 people won the top prize, with their prizes standing at 21.8 billion won over the cited period.

The ministry said the right or claim of Lotto prizes expires after one year and the unclaimed winnings are carried over to the state fund.

For the first six months of the year, 2.97 million people lost their rights to claim a combined 26.4 billion won worth of prizes, the ministry added.

Lottery sales rose to a 12-year high of 3.56 trillion won last year amid a protracted economic slump, according to separate data. (Yonhap)