Rio tickets sales continue to lag

Rio Olympic ticket sales continue to lag behind those at recent Games with more than one million still up for grabs.

Organisers say 82 per cent or about five million tickets have been sold with about 75 per cent of those going to Brazilians and 25 per cent to international visitors.

That compares to the 95 per cent sold at both Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.

The details come amid reports of empty seats across most venues, though officials say long delays clearing spectators through security checks has been part of the problem.

With hot conditions in Rio on Saturday, some fans with young children opted to go home instead.

Rio communications director Mario Andrada said issues with access had now been resolved.

Andrada said Rio ticket sales so far were worth just over $2.6 billion.