Lottery sales in New Jersey fell for the first in seven years in 2017 led by a sharp by decline in revenue from Powerball tickets, though scratch-off games remain the state's biggest money maker, according to the New Jersey Lottery's annual report.

The lottery sold $3.186 billion in tickets for all games -- about $103 million less than in fiscal year 2016. The lottery still contributed $994 million to education and social programs last year, up from $987 million the previous year.

Sales of Pick 3, Pick 4, Powerball, Mega Millions and Cash 4 Life all fell. Only instant scratch-off games and Jersey Cash 5 tickets brought in more revenue in 2017 than 2016.

$553K Jersey Cash 5 ticket sold in Hudson County

Powerball sales dropped to about $213.5 million - a decrease of about $72.5 million from the previous year.

Scratch-off tickets are still by far the biggest sales driver for the New Jersey lottery.

Customers bought $1.9 billion in the instant tickets last year -- accounting for about 59 percent of the lottery's revenue. That was about $15 million more in scratch-off sales than the previous year.

The private operator of the lottery, Northstar New Jersey, was awarded $1 million less in fees and expenses than it earned in 2016. Despite the lag in sales, its bonus still totaled $29 million, a drop from the $30.6 million it got the year before.

Now former Gov. Chris Christie last year signed a law that redirects lottery revenue to the public employee pension fund beginning this fiscal year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.