Statistics and research release
Funds raised for good causes Q4 2025 to 2026: Official statistics
Income from The National Lottery by quarter and versus last year. Represents Quarter 4 (January to March) 2025 to 2026.
Summary
Also published recently
Funds raised for good causes
Published: May 2026
Reporting Period: Quarter 4, 2025 to 2026 (January to March 2026)
Since its launch in November 1994, the National Lottery has raised £53 billion 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 items such as unclaimed prizes. The funds for good causes are held in the National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF).
Key facts
Total funds raised for good causes between Quarter 4 2024 to 2025 and Quarter 4 2025 to 20261
The chart shows the total payment to good causes due for the most recent quarter and the preceding 4 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 payment to good causes due for Quarter 4 (January to March) 2025 to 2026 was £446.7 million. This was £35.9 million (8.7 percent) above Quarter 3 (October to December) 2025 to 2026 and £32.5 million (6.8 percent) below Quarter 4 in 2024 to 2025. The last 4 quarters have generated over £1.8 billion for good causes.
| 2024 to 2025 Quarter 4 |
2025 to 2026 Quarter 1 |
2025 to 2026 Quarter 2 |
2025 to 2026 Quarter 3 |
2025 to 2026 Quarter 4 |
Total payment to good causes due for the quarter | £479.2 million | £485.0 million | £460.9 million | £410.8 million | £446.7 million |
|---|
Details
The total payment to good causes due for Quarter 4 2025 to 2026 was £35.9 million (8.7 percent) higher than Quarter 3 2025 to 2026, and £32.5 million (6.8 percent) lower than Quarter 4 2024 to 2025. It is worth noting that £34.4m from unclaimed prizes on Scratchcards is included for Quarter 42.
Total National Lottery sales in Quarter 4 decreased by £18.5 million (1 percent) compared to Quarter 3 2025 to 2026.
When compared to Quarter 4 2024 to 2025, total sales decreased by £111.5 million (5.5 percent). This was driven primarily by lower EuroMillions (£64.7 million) and Interactive Instant Win Games (£35.5 million) sales compared to the same quarter last year.
Notes
1 Amounts relate to total value of proceeds from game sales and other income and adjustments, including unclaimed prizes. Amounts reported above relate to the total payment to good causes due for the Quarter, with the week ending date used to determine the quarter in which they fall. Note, each of the five reported quarters cover a 13-week period.
2 Unclaimed prize payments to good causes happen throughout the year, from all games, where a prize has not been claimed within 180 days. However, Quarter 2 and Quarter 4 generally experience larger payments as a result of scratchcard game closures.
Figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 million. Totals and changes are calculated using unrounded data and may not sum due to rounding.
Data and downloads
There are no files for this release.