More than two-thirds of Rio Olympic tickets sold

The Rio 2016 Games, the first Olympics to be held in South America, will be begin from August 5

More than two-thirds of the tickets available for this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro have been sold, organisers have said.

With less than three months until the opening ceremony, officials said 67% of the 7.4 million tickets on offer were already sold. The figure compares with less than 50% last month, reports Xinhua.

Despite the rising demand, Rio 2016 ticketing director Donovan Ferreti said there were still tickets available for most events.

"There are still tickets available for big events like preliminary rounds for basketball, volleyball and beach volleyball," Ferreti told reporters on Friday.

The first batch of tickets for the Rio Olympics went on sale in March last year. Prices range from around $12 for less popular events to $1,300 for the best seats at the opening ceremony.

The Rio 2016 Games, the first Olympics to be held in South America, will be held from August 5 to 21.