Record £8b in Sales for UK National Lottery

Last updated on July 20th, 2024

Camelot UK Lotteries Limited came out with a report in which they reveal a record £8bn in sales from UK National Lottery for the period between April 1st, 2020, to March 31st, 2021. What stands out is the record-breaking number of £8.4bn, which is a £468.8m increase in comparison to 2019/2020. Moreover, what is even more admiring, is the 42.8% increase in digital sales, or up to £3.5bn. So it is safe to say that the investment by Camelot in March 2020 into the digital channel certainly is paying off. For that matter, we are noticing an all-around increase in several gaming sectors all across the UK.

All six drawn-based games that Camelot offers are noticing a rise in revenue. Specifically, there is a £153.6m increase, or £4.7bn. The major contributor to this is definitely the Lotto, thanks to the new feature introduced back in November 2020. Consequently, as a result, nearly one million players won extra cash prizes in the amount of £5.

And speaking of prizes, Camelot is to ‘blame’ for creating 389 millionaires for 2020/2021. More specifically, they awarded a total of £4.9bn in prizes, which consequently is the new record. That is £349.7m more in regard to 2019/2020.

Furthermore, when speaking of digital sales, mobile sales are noticing record numbers as well. £2.48bn to be precise, with a staggering £876.4m increase in revenue.

In-store sales are one of those departments that are reporting a decline in numbers. In particular, there is an 18.9% drop at the half-year mark. This amounts to a total of £4.86bn for 2020/2021, which is obviously less than the £5.45bn one year before. Consequently, this was one of the major reasons for the 10.7% retail sales decline in 2020/2021. Yet, it is good to mention that this sector is finally recovering from the negative effects, and it’s already reporting stronger numbers.

Finally, there are the unclaimed prizes. For 2020/2021 they amount to £1.89bn, or £36m per week. And luckily, these funds will yet again go into the charity Good Causes. And with the Lottery Duty exceeding a historic £1bn, it has already contributed towards a record £3.1bn, which of course will go into helping individuals and organizations. When asked about the matter, the chairman of Camelot, Sir Hugh Robertson, said the following:

This is the fourth consecutive year of rising sales since our strategic review in 2017. The National Lottery has delivered for the UK again this year, with the highest-ever returns for Good Causes from sales alone. A remarkable £1.2bn has been distributed to help the country respond to the impact of coronavirus. Without this money, many organizations would have ceased to function

Sir Hugh Robertson – Chairman of Camelot UK Lotteries

The new record £8bn Lottery sales in the UK are definitely good news. This serves as a ray of hope, and as a reminder that not everything is grim or negative, it’s just that 2020 is the year we all wish to forget.