National Lottery sales grow to second highest in its history
National Lottery sales for the 2022/2023 financial year increased by £99.6 million, to £8,190.3 million – the second highest annual sales total since the National Lottery’s launch.
As a result of this strong performance, returns to Good Causes from ticket sales alone hit an all-time high of £1,807.0 million in 2022/23, £6.2 million higher than in the previous year.
Over the same period, The National Lottery awarded £4,694.0 million in prize money to players – up £81.7 million and the second highest-ever amount awarded – and created 382 new millionaires, equivalent to more than one a day. These included five EuroMillions jackpots that were scooped in the UK – with a trio of very lucky players winning prizes so big that they immediately became the UK’s three biggest-ever winners.
GOOD CAUSES
Including unclaimed prizes – which are passed to Good Causes after 180 days and which were £40.7 million lower than in 2021/22 as more people were united with their winnings this year – a total of £1,877.3 million, or an average of £36 million every week, was generated for Good Causes over the period. This takes the total raised for National Lottery projects since 1994 to more than £47 billion.
£3.1 billion was once again generated for society through Good Causes, Lottery Duty – which was almost £1 billion in 2022/23 – and retailer commission. With UK consumers facing significant inflationary pressure, these strong results show that The National Lottery is continuing to deliver for people, projects and communities across the UK.
Camelot Co-CEOs, Clare Swindell and Neil Brocklehurst, said: “We’re delighted to have grown National Lottery sales year-on-year to their second highest on record, creating almost 400 millionaires in the process. And with £36 million being raised each week for Good Cause projects around the UK and returns from ticket sales rising to their best-ever level, it’s clear that The National Lottery is delivering for players and society in what are very challenging times.
“We have more exciting plans lined up for the year ahead to ensure that The National Lottery remains front of mind and brings people together at key national moments. And, we also remain committed to delivering the National Lottery in a safe and socially-responsible way. All while we continue to support Allwyn UK on its transition plans to the fourth licence, from 1 February 2024.”
Despite tough trading conditions, in-store sales recovered slightly over the last six months to reach £4,499.6 million for the full year, as people visited stores more frequently in search of best value.
INVESTMENT
Camelot continues to invest and support its National Lottery retail partners, with its in-store standards and rewards programme boosting National Lottery retailers’ income by awarding almost £540,000 in cash rewards to independent shopkeepers over the period.
‘It’s clear that The National Lottery is delivering for players and society in what are very challenging times’
The 43,000-strong network of National Lottery retailers also shared a total of £254.7 million in sales commission over the year, working out at around £6,000 per store. Over £7.7 billion has been paid in commission to retailers since 1994.
Camelot and the wider National Lottery family continued to carry out work throughout the period to drive relevance, positivity and participation through a number of special promotional initiatives designed to showcase The National Lottery’s role in national life and to thank players for their all-important contribution by bringing people together in celebration.
Going into 2023/24, Camelot has continued to maximise opportunities to ensure that The National Lottery remains front of mind and brings people together at key national moments, hosting The National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome for more than 20,000 National Lottery players in the heart of Liverpool earlier this month, as well as supporting communities across the UK to host street parties and get togethers to celebrate the King’s Coronation.
