National Lottery ticket sales for the 2018/19 financial year (1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019) were over £7.2bn – an increase of more than £255m on last year – according to Camelot’s latest financial results.
With sales of £5.4bn over the period – an increase of £73.8m on last year – retail remains by far the largest National Lottery sales channel, with almost three-quarters of total sales coming through in-store terminals.
Camelot expanded its retailer footprint considerably over the year. Since last summer, it has been trialling sales in a number of Aldi stores. The company also started to make its games available at self-checkouts, having recently rolled out this facility to over 550 Asda stores nationwide.
Digital sales for 2018/19 hit a record £1.8bn, with smartphones and tablets accounting for 55% of the total – another all-time high.
The National Lottery’s range of Scratchcards and online Instant Win Games also reached a record £3.1bn – an increase of £290m – following range improvements and better stock management processes.
Over the year, Camelot generated £1.7bn for good causes and awarded £4.1bn in prizes.
Although total sales of draw-based games were broadly flat, both Thunderball and EuroMillions HotPicks performed well. While EuroMillions and Lotto were both slightly down – EuroMillions as a result of fewer rollover draws of over £100 million in 2018/19 – Lotto gained momentum in the second half of the year following enhancements introduced in November 2018. In addition, Camelot said the launch of the new Set For Life game in March “is on track” and expected to boost good causes by an additional £100m in the next financial year.
Camelot CEO Nigel Railton commented: “Sales across most of the business are up – with our ongoing investment and innovation in retail and digital continuing to yield positive results.
“In the coming year, we will continue to make our player protection activities best-in-class through our work to reduce excessive play, prevent underage play and promote safe play.”
