With over 6,800 millionaires made since launch and £90BN in prize money paid out to lucky players, The National Lottery today reveals the lucky winning hotspots across the UK. Are you living in the country’s luckiest location and could it be you next?
Birmingham tops the lot when it comes to millionaire-making since The National Lottery began. The statistics, which include both publicity and non-publicity winners, reveal that England’s second city is in fact first for National Lottery millionaires with a whopping 205 made in the Birmingham area. Belfast comes in second place with 174, followed by Glasgow with 158.
It would appear that luck could actually live in the north, judging by the fact that Sheffield is in fourth place with 150 followed by Newcastle and Liverpool, each with 136, before Manchester places sixth with 133. Cardiff follows with 126 then Peterborough in eighth with 119. Coventry, Leicester and Nottingham claim equal ninth with 102 National Lottery millionaires each and Doncaster completes the top 10 with 96.
Celeste Cole, a retired teacher from Birmingham, banked a £3.6M National Lottery win in July 2022. She celebrated for all of Birmingham at the iconic National Lottery-funded Library of Birmingham and hopes to bring even more luck to her fellow Brummies. She said: “It’s been an amazing year, winning the lottery is truly life-changing. I have been able to treat my family and buy a holiday home in Spain which will mean we can all create more memorable moments together. Something which would never have happened without the win.
“Congratulations to all the Brummie winners so far, hoping for lots more in the future! I’ve always known we are a lucky city, and everyone should remember that it could be you, as long as you have a ticket in your pocket!”
Luck is all around
It’s been an amazing year (1 April 2022 - 31 March 2023) of winning big on The National Lottery, with a massive 383 millionaires made - that is, on average, more than one a day. It is these winners who have contributed in part to the UK hotspots leaping up The National Lottery’s lucky league table. Across the last three years Sheffield tops the lot with 38 new millionaires. The south of England has also been experiencing a lot of National Lottery luck with new areas jumping into the top ten - Guildford and South East London have each added 20 new millionaires to their totals across the last three years.
If we look at millionaires made per head of adult population it is evident that luck lives in every corner of the UK. Since The National Lottery was launched it is Watford, Motherwell and Romford which are top of the charts, with a millionaire made for less than every 5,000 adults. Also featuring in the top ten are St Albans, Hull, Harrow and Durham.
Kathy Garrett, Winners Experience Lead at The National Lottery said, “Congratulations to each and every winner. I am extremely fortunate to be there at the moment we confirm the win and pay the prize. It is wonderful to witness the incredible difference a big win can make to the lives of a winner and the people they care about.
“We travel to every corner of the country paying out big winners so I know there is luck in every corner of the UK and just having a ticket means it could be you next. Hopefully I’ll be seeing you soon.”
A lucky life-changing sum of money doesn’t have to mean seven figures. More than 43,500 prizes of £50k or more have been won by National Lottery players since launch and dividing these wins by the local adult population shows again that luck lives all over the UK.
These stats, based on all big wins per head of adult population, place Romford in Essex first with 1 in every 755 adults banking a big prize. Galashields is second with 1 in every 864 adults followed by Cleveland with 1 in every 875 residents winning a life-changing sum. Also featuring in the top ten is Medway, Newport, Bromley and Sunderland. Looking at this list, but for just the last three years only, Perth, Sutton, Stevenage and Newport clearly have a lotto luck too.
By playing any National Lottery game, players generate £30M each week for National Lottery-funded projects. In total more than £47 billion has been raised and more than 670,000 individual grants have been made across the UK. This money helps support everything from the local charity making a difference where you live through to helping our nation’s athletes win medals at major sporting events.
TOP 10 LUCKIEST PLACES IN THE UK (BY MILLIONAIRES MADE SINCE LAUNCH)
- B - Birmingham - 205
- BT - Belfast - 174
- G - Glasgow - 158
- S - Sheffield - 150
- L - Liverpool, NE - Newcastle - 136
- M - Manchester - 133
- CF - Cardiff - 126
- PE - Peterborough - 119
- CV - Coventry, LE - Leicester, NG - Nottingham - 102
- DN - Doncaster - 96
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MILLIONAIRES MADE IN THE LAST THREE YEARS
- S - Sheffield - 38
- BT - Belfast - 36
- B - Birmingham - 35
- G - Glasgow - 26
- M - Manchester - 24
- NE - Newcastle - 23
- SE - London (South East), GU - Guildford - 20
- PE - Peterborough,CF - Cardiff - 19
- L - Liverpool - 18
- LE - Leicester, BS - Bristol, DN - Doncaster, PO - Portsmouth, SO - Southampton, KA - Kilmarnock - 16
MILLIONAIRES PER HEAD OF ADULT POPULATION SINCE LAUNCH
- WD – Watford – 1 in 4,878
- ML - Motherwell – 1 in 4,939
- RM - Romford – 1 in 4,953
- L – Liverpool – 1 in 5,211
- DG – Dumfries - 1 in 5,330
- AL – St Albans – 1 in 5,598
- HU – Hull – 1 in 5,703
- HA - Harrow - 1 in 5,824
- DH - Durham - 1 in 5,887
- WV - Wolverhampton - 1 in 5,890
HIGH TIER WINNERS PER HEAD OF ADULT POPULATION SINCE LAUNCH (£50,000 OR MORE)
- RM - Romford - 1 in 755
- TC - Galashiels - 1 in 864
- TS - Cleveland - 1 in 875
- ME - Medway - 1 in 896
- L - Liverpool - 1 in 942
- NP - Newport – 1 in 944
- WA - Warrington - 1 in 945
- BR - Bromley - 1 in 952
- NE - Newcastle - 1 in 952
- SR - Sunderland - 1 in 967
HIGH TIER WINNERS PER HEAD OF ADULT POPULATION IN THE LAST THREE YEARS (£50,000 OR MORE)
- PH - Perth - 1 in 6,927
- SM - Sutton - 1 in 7,304
- SG - Stevenage - 1 in 8,336
- NP - Newport - 1 in 9,308
- KY - Kirkcaldy - 1 in 9,473
- DG - Dumfries - 1 in 9,841
- RM - Romford - 1 in 9,906
- DL - Darlington - 1 in 9,977
- CA - Carlisle 1 in 10,274
- ML - Motherwell 1 in 10,537
