With over 6,800 millionaires made since launch and £90BN in prize money paid out to lucky players, The National Lottery has revealed how many of these big winners are from Northern Ireland. Could this signal that it could be you next?
There have been an astonishing 174 millionaires made in Northern Ireland since the first National Lottery draw in 1994, with Northern Ireland ranking an impressive second out of all of the areas for lottery millionaire making.
The figure includes an astonishing 36 winners across just the last three years meaning that a new National Lottery millionaire has been made on average every single month since 2020 (1 April 2020 – 31 March 2023).
Anne Canavan, banked a £1M National Lottery win in 2015. Anne said: “It’s fantastic news that there have been 174 millionaires made in Northern Ireland, I feel so blessed to be one of those lucky millionaires. The win has enabled me to pursue my dreams and passions as well as take care of my family.
“Congratulations to everyone in Northern Ireland – I’ve always known we are a lucky bunch. And everyone should remember that it could be you, as long as you have a ticket in your pocket!”
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 it seems Northern Ireland is having more than its fair share of them. A whopping 916 players have banked a big prize which places Northern Ireland fourth luckiest for big wins out of every area across the UK. In total 109 of these have come across the last three years, taking Northern Ireland to the top of the UK wide table across this period.
Kathy Garrett, Winners Experience Lead at The National Lottery, said: “Congratulations to each and every winner. I am fortunate enough to be there at the moment we confirm the win and pay the prize, that is the moment you can really see the difference a win will make to the lives of a winner and the people they care about.
“We travel to each and every corner of the UK paying out big winners so I know there is luck around every corner and just having a ticket means it could be you next. Hopefully I’ll see you soon!”
By playing any National Lottery game, players generate £30M each week for National Lottery-funded projects. 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. To date, over £47BN has been raised for National Lottery Good Causes, with more than 670,000 individual grants awarded.
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
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
HIGH TIER WINNERS SINCE LAUNCH (£50,000 OR MORE)
B – Birmingham – 1,377
S – Sheffield – 1,029
NE – Newcastle – 1,012
BT – Belfast – 916
M – Manchester – 887