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Statistics and research release

Funds raised for good causes Q3 2020 to 2021: Official statistics

Income from game sales by quarter and versus last year.

Official statistics

Summary

Since its launch in November 1994, the National Lottery has raised over £42billion for good causes that include sports (including Olympic athletes), arts and heritage, as well as health, education and the environment.

Funds are raised from the sale of National Lottery games and supplemented by unclaimed prizes and interest on balances of funds held. The funds for the original good causes are held in the National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF).

The Commission ensures that payments from the Lottery operator to the good causes are accurate and on time.

Key facts

Total funds raised for good causes between Q3 2019 to 2020 and Q3 2020 to 20211

The following chart shows the most recent quarter and the preceding four quarters for comparative purposes. For consistency, each week’s ending date must fall within the reporting quarter, therefore the number of weeks within the quarters may vary.

The total raised for good causes in Q3 (October to December) was £444.84M.

This was -£8.06M (-1.8%) below the July to September quarter and -£55.23M (-11.0%) below Q3 in 2019 to 2020.

The last five quarters have generated £2.22bn to good causes.

RTGC-Q3-2021

Total funds raised for good causes between Q3 2019 to 2020 and Q3 2020 to 2021.
2019 to 2020
Quarter 3
2019 to 2020
Quarter 4
2020 to 2021
Quarter 1
2020 to 2021
Quarter 2
2020 to 2021
Quarter 3
Amount raised for good causes £500.1 million £439.1 million £382.3 million £452.9 million £444.8 million

Details

Total contributions from sales before adjustments in Q3 were around £19m higher than Q2. However, after adjustments, total funds raised for good causes in Q3 were £8.1m below Q2 (-1.8%) and £55.2m (-11.0%) below Q3 financial year 2019 to 2020. The slight decrease against Q2 2020 to 2021 can be mostly attributed to the following:

Total unclaimed prizes added as funds to good causes is around £29m less than the previous quarter. There were slight decreases in funds to good causes from Lotto and Set For Life this quarter against the last (please note that returns split by game are based on an estimation).

Funds raised from Lotto sales were £153m in Q2 and £143m in Q3, a decrease of around 7%.

Funds raised from Set For Life sales were £22m in Q2 and £18m in Q3, a decrease of around 18%.

This was partly attributed to an increase in jackpot winners. EuroMillions had another strong quarter, partly attributed to a guaranteed jackpot event which rolled to the highest ever jackpot of £175m.

Notes

1 Amounts relate to total value of proceeds from game sales raised for good causes in approximate calendar quarters. Q3 of 2020 to 2021 comprises funds raised between the week ending 3 October to the week ending 26 December. They include all other income and adjustments from game sales, including unclaimed prizes.

Data and downloads

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