With consumers’ financial wellbeing a key influence on lottery spending, the continuing cost-of-living crisis has contributed to a fall in market value in 2024 and 2025.
UK Lotteries Market Analysis from Mintel
Lotteries in the UK are threatened by the growing popularity of prize draws, now enjoyed by just as many players as online instant win games (IWGs) and look to have a stronger appeal to younger demographics than draws.
The biggest long-term opportunities will be in new tech-driven products and experiences, but segmenting marketing activity around motivations for play presents more immediate potential for growth.
UK Lotteries Market Statistics
- UK lotteries consumer habits:Â Almost two-thirds of UK adults played a lottery or lottery-style game during the 12 months to October 2024.
UK Lotteries Market Report – What’s Inside?
Key Topics Analysed in the Report
- The continuing impact of the cost-of-living crisis on lottery spending
- The threat to lottery sales posed by prize draws
- The implications of demographic change for lottery play
- Variations in motives for play between products and participation groups
- Opportunities for convenience stores to push back against supermarkets’ dominance of in-person sales
Report Scope
This Report covers all the products offered by the National Lottery, the Health Lottery and other society, charity and local lotteries. Only the National Lottery and lotteries regulated by the Gambling Commission fall within the scope of this Report, although other lottery-type games are considered where they impact directly on the market.
Meet the Expert Behind the Analysis
This report was written by David Walmsley. David is a research analyst at Mintel focusing on the sport and leisure sectors, which he has covered for more than 15 years. Formerly a journalist with the BBC, Independent News & Media and the SportBusiness Group, he holds an honours degree in International Studies from the University of Birmingham.
Prize draws are now played by as many people as online IWGs and are showing lottery operators how to appeal to younger age groups especially.
David Walmsley
Research Analyst
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Opportunities for lotteries
- Learn from prize draws to reach a younger crowd
- Segment incentives to match motivations
- Reimagine the lottery syndicates of the future
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Market size & forecast
- Market predictions
- Economic headwinds stall lottery spending
- Scratchcard and IWG sales track draw ticket buying
- Graph 1: National Lottery sales, by segment, 2019/20-2023/24**
- Digital sales hold up better than retail revenues
- Graph 2: National Lottery sales, by channel, 2019/20-2023/24*
- What consumers want and why
- More than three in five Brits try their lottery luck
- Graph 3: lottery games played, 2024
- Prize draws gain ground among the young
- Graph 4: lottery game and prize draw player bases, by age, 2024
- Under-35s are a core prize draw demographic
- Big wins are lotteries’ biggest draw
- Cash is king among drivers of participation
- Graph 5: motivations for playing lottery games, 2024
- Draw tickets and scratchcards are primarily purchased in-person
- Graph 6: lottery draw ticket and scratchcard buying, by channel, 2024
- Supermarkets sweep the board…
- Graph 7: in-person lottery draw ticket and scratchcard buying, by type of outlet, 2024
- …but convenience stores have sales opportunities around food to go
- Graph 8: items bought in-store with lottery tickets/scratchcards, by type of shop bought from, 2024
- Drop off a parcel, pick up a scratchcard
- Graph 9: in-store services used by in-person lottery buyers, 2024
- Innovation and marketing
- Local stores offer a more convenient way to buy scratchcards
- Adspend reaches record heights
- Graph 10: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail lottery advertising expenditure, 2022-24
- Market leaders split on adspend strategy
- Graph 11: Leading lottery operators’ adspend distribution, by media type, 2024
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MARKET DYNAMICS
- Market size
- Spending slides towards pre-pandemic levels
- Living cost squeeze and fewer rollovers depress market value
- Market forecast
- Consumer spending to slip below the £4 billion mark
- Return to growth will be slowed by bumps in the road ahead
- Market segmentation
- Scratchcard and IWG sales track draw ticket buying
- Graph 12: National Lottery sales, by segment, 2019/20-2023/24*
- Digital sales hold up better than retail revenues
- Graph 13: National Lottery sales, by channel, 2019/20-2023/24*
- Online player numbers edge up to record high
- Market share
- Society sector chips away at National Lottery’s large lead
- Graph 14: operator shares of lottery sales, 2019/20-2023/24
- Sales trends move in opposite directions
- Graph 15: lottery sales, by operator segment, 2019/20-2023/24
- People’s Postcode Lottery sets the society sales pace…
- Graph 16: People’s Postcode Lottery sales, 2019-23
- …with further growth anticipated
- Graph 17: People’s Postcode Lottery customer spending habits, 2024-25*
- Market drivers
- Weak economic growth discourages consumer spending
- Graph 18: GDP, 2021-24
- Pay rises run ahead of inflation rates
- Graph 19: CPI inflation rate and total pay growth rate, 2021-24
- Borrowing pressures remain
- Graph 20: Bank of England base rate, by date of adjustment, 2008-24
- The cost-of-living crisis continues to bite
- Graph 21: perception of the state of the cost of living crisis in the UK, 2024
- Most people see rising prices in shops
- Financial wellbeing fluctuates with economic uncertainty
- Graph 22: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-24
- Consumer confidence is improving – but still vulnerable to shocks
- Graph 23: the financial confidence index, 2016-24
- Charities sector is highly competitive
- Graph 24: number of charities in England and Wales, 2013-24
- Lotteries can enable regular-giving donors favour
- Graph 25: charitable giving behaviours, 2024
- Prize draws pose a growing threat
- Omaze out-earns many society lotteries
- New technologies bring change online and in-store
- Allwyn has identified four tech-based opportunities for its lotteries
- UK’s population structure continues to age
- Graph 26: population, by age, 2004-64
- Lottery draws are best placed to benefit
- Graph 27: Participation in lottery games, by age, 2024
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WHAT CONSUMERS WANT AND WHY
- Lottery play
- More than three in five Brits try their lottery luck
- Fall in participation levels off
- Graph 28: lottery games played, 2020-23
- Only one type of game in town for most
- Graph 29: repertoires of lottery games played, 2024
- Prize draws are as popular as online instant-wins…
- Graph 30: lottery games played, 2024
- …do better in attracting the young…
- Graph 31: lottery game and prize draw player base, by demographics, 2024
- …and threaten online lottery games as a result
- Graph 32: participation in prize draws, by lottery games played, 2024
- Draw games
- Most valuable games sell most tickets
- Graph 33: lottery draw games played, 2024
- Youthful mobility can create a natural affinity with Postcode Lottery
- Graph 34: National Lottery Lotto and People’s Postcode Lottery player base, by demographics, 2024
- Prizes and causes key to expanding draw players’ repertoires
- Graph 35: repertoires of lottery draw games played, 2024
- Motivations for play
- Big wins are lotteries’ biggest draw
- Cash is king among drivers of participation…
- Graph 36: motivations for playing lottery games, 2024
- …but biggest is not always best for everyone
- Graph 37: appeal of cash prizes, by games played, 2024
- Habit is just the ticket for lottery draws
- Graph 38: habitual lottery participation, by games played, 2024
- Feeling lucky creates a call to immediate action
- Graph 39: feeling lucky as a motive for lottery play, by games played, 2024
- Sharper focus can attract charitable ticket buying
- Graph 40: supporting a charity as a motive for lottery participation, by games played, 2024
- Advertising drives prize draws’ brand recognition
- Graph 41: influence of advertising on lottery participation, by games played, 2024
- Non-cash prizes a key differentiator for non-lottery draws
- Graph 42: appeal of non-cash prizes, by games played
- Better odds can attract younger players
- Graph 43: good chance of winning as a motivation for play, by games played, 2024
- In-person play
- Most players still buy in person
- In-store promotions should prioritise scratchcards
- Graph 44: lottery purchasing channels, by games played, 2024
- Advertise in-store to get lucky
- Graph 45: in-person lottery buyers’ motivations for play, 2024
- Segment retail marketing to target different age groups
- Graph 46: in-person lottery draw ticket and scratchcard buying, by type of outlet, 2024
- Purchasing habits
- Store buyers hope for big wins in the big shop
- Graph 47: in-person lottery buyers’ related purchasing habits, 2024
- Convenience stores have need for speed – in promotions and transactions
- Graph 48: in-store lottery players’ shopping habits, by type of shop bought from, 2024
- Drop off a parcel, pick up a scratchcard
- Graph 49: in-store services used by in-person lottery buyers, 2024
- Slower services can enable a different marketing approach
- Graph 50: in-store services used by in-person lottery buyers, by type of shop bought from, 2024
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INNOVATION AND MARKETING TRENDS
- Launch activity and innovation
- Local stores offer a more-convenient way to buy scratchcards
- Health Lottery enters the podcasting game
- Awards scheme champions local lottery retailers
- Chocolate-fragranced scratchcards make marketing scents
- Banks place bets on prize draws’ popularity
- Advertising and marketing activity
- Adspend reaches record heights
- Graph 51: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail lottery advertising expenditure, 2022-24
- National Lottery drives rise in investment…
- Graph 52: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail lottery advertising expenditure, by operator, 2023 and 2024
- …with big increases across its product range
- Graph 53: National Lottery adspend, by product, 2023 and 2024
- Market leaders take differing approaches in media strategy
- Graph 54: leading lottery operators’ adspend, by media type, 2024
- New Lotto campaign strikes familiar note
- National Lottery highlights Olympic support…
- …with events and draws as well as ads
- Postcode Lottery turns to TV for its big occasions
- National Lottery campaigns focus on Christmas and birthdays
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APPENDIX
- Supplementary data
- Advertising expenditure
- Advertising expenditure by media type
- Market forecast data and methodology
- Market size: underlying data
- Market forecast: underlying data
- Market forecast and prediction intervals
- Forecast methodology
- Report scope and definitions
- Market definition
- Abbreviations and terms
- Consumer research methodology
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
- Snoop SpendMapper methodology
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