The National Lottery Reveals Luckiest Hotspots
As the UK struggles to get back to work this week, The National Lottery today
gives the nation something to be cheerful about, as it reveals the luckiest postcode areas in terms of
lottery windfalls since its launch in November 1994.
Over 2,000 lottery winners have now joined the exclusive ‘Millionaires’ Club’ – which means an astonishing one in 9,423 of the UK’s player population has now won a share of a National Lottery jackpot.
This compares to one in 10,897 in 2006 and around one in 19,000 when the statistics were originally published back in 2002.
For the first time since 2002, Ilford (IG) has been knocked off the top spot as the luckiest postcode
in the UK. Instead, the Medway Towns (ME) postcode hops up two spaces this year from third place to first place, nudging Ilford and fellow Essex postcode, Romford (RM) into second and third place respectively.
It is only the third time the Medway Towns have featured as a lucky lottery hotspot–
the ME postcode re-entered the chart last year, after ranking in the top 10 once before in 2004.
There is even more of a shake-up in the rest of the top 10, with three new entries in 2007 – the Teesside (TS), Sunderland (SR) and Hull (HU) postcodes all appear this year for the first time since the statistics were first published. Meanwhile, the Newcastle (NE) postcode has boosted its luck ranking, shooting up the list
from 10th to fourth position. The Dartford (DA) postcode also remains in the top 10 but takes a dip in the luck stakes, slipping from fourth place to fifth – while Perth (PH) makes a re-appearance in 10th place, after dropping out of the top 10 for the first time last year.
A National Lottery spokesperson said: “It’s great to see so many new postcodes in the top 10, some for the first time ever – it just proves that by playing the lottery, your luck can change for the better at any time.
However, as there are on average, 17 millionaires created in every postcode area in the UK,
it’s fair to say that beyond the top 10, lucky lottery hotspots are everywhere.”
The total prize winnings for the luckiest top 10 postcodes since the launch of The National
Lottery in 1994 is just over £1 billion, with a total of 539 top prizes won and 220 millionaires created in these areas.
On average, more than £7.4 million in top prizes has been paid out for each UK postcode area over the past 12 months. This means that thousands of National Lottery players are starting 2008 with a bumper boost
to their bank balance, having struck it lucky during the past year.
The statistics, which include both publicity and non-publicity winners, map out the top 10 lucky hotspots based on the postcode areas which have the most top prize-winning entries as a proportion of their adult
player population. Each of these lucky hotspots is listed under the name of the main postal town the postcode area is named after. The number in the Medway Towns equates to one top prize-winning ticket in every 6,119 people, compared to Ilford’s one in 6,839.
Newcastle’s surge in luck was boosted by Michael Eggleston, a 61-year-old Sunderland FC fan from Hedworth, Jarrow, who won £2.7 million in March 2007 – and Michael Fox, a 64-year-old horse racing fan from
Blyth in Northumberland, who won £2.7 million on Lotto two months later in May 2007.
Bradford’s entry into the top 10 was helped by a syndicate of 17 colleagues and friends
who worked at Bradford University and College who scooped a £5.2 million Lotto jackpot on Saturday 21 October. The postcode’s ranking in the top 10 was secured by Janette Wright, a 41-year-old Housing Officer
and her husband Stephen who won £1.6 million on Lotto in June 2007 after a tarot reader
predicted a substantial win.
A 16-strong pub syndicate from Hull helped the HU postcode into the top 10 for the first time. The syndicate won a £772,906 share of the Lotto jackpot on 3 March 2007 but only claimed their prize after reading about a National Lottery appeal in the local newspaper asking players in the area to check their old tickets,
as the winner had not yet come forward. This run of luck continued when a syndicate of
fish factory workers won £1.1 million just three weeks later in March 2007.
When it comes to the postcode area with the highest number of millionaires since the lottery launched, Birmingham continues to reign supreme, followed by Glasgow in second place, Sheffield in third, Newcastle-upon-Tyne in fourth and Cardiff in fifth position.
Birmingham also continues to hold the top spot for the highest number of top prize-winning entries and the biggest payout of major prizes since launch, with a total prize payout of £279,279,426. The city is
followed in both categories by Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Sheffield and Belfast rank joint third
for highest number of top prize-winning entries and Glasgow is third for biggest payout of larger prizes.
The National Lottery creates about four million winners a week across its range of draw-based games and Scratchcards, and more than 2,000 millionaires or multi-millionaires have been created since launch in 1994.
Data refers to prizes paid out up to and including November 2007.
Top prizes are the top-tier prizes or jackpots across all draw-based games and Scratchcards.
The UK’s luckiest postcode areas:
Rank
Postal town
Total prize amount across all games (top tier prizes on all games)
Number of major prize-winning entries per adult player population
1
Medway Towns
£91,951,243.50
6,1192
Ilford
£63,101,642.80
6,839
3
Romford
£123,933,289.80
6,903
4
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
£263,848,307.90
6,981
5
Dartford
£103,151,466.30
7,051
6
Bradford
£102,252,396.00
7,127
7
Teesside
£112,011,031.40
7,307
8
Sunderland
£46,498,566.20
7,525
9
Hull
£89,260,053.40
7,646
10
Perth
£23,212,958.90
7,691
Highest number of millionaires since launch:
Rank
Postal town
1
Birmingham
2
Glasgow
3
Sheffield
4
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
5
Cardiff
Biggest number of major prize-winning entries since launch:
Rank
Postal town
1
Birmingham
2
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
3
Sheffield
3
Belfast
5
Glasgow
Highest total prize payout since launch for top prizes:
Rank
Postal town
Total Prizes Paid Out
1
Birmingham
£279,279,426.30
2
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
£263,848,307.90
3
Glasgow
£260,727,667.90
4
Sheffield
£217,168,147.90
5
Manchester
£207,594,673.10
see more at http://www.national-lottery.co.uk/
