3p
Retailer commission
The illustrative average allocates about 3p per £1 of sales to retailer commission. This is the retail layer that supports National Lottery sales through participating shops and other authorised retail outlets.
The simple answer
How every £1 is expected to be split
The most useful way to understand National Lottery finances is to start with 100 pence. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport published the current illustrative average for the Fourth National Lottery Licence in 2026, based on The National Lottery's 2024/25 reporting.
Illustrative £1 ticket split
Expected average across the Fourth Licence, not a fixed split for every individual game or draw.
Prizes to players56p
Good Causes23p
Lottery Duty12p
Retailer commission3p
Operating costs5p
Operator profit1p
Important: those figures are an expected average over the current licence. They are not a promise that every £1 Lotto line, EuroMillions entry or scratchcard is divided in exactly those proportions at the moment you buy it.
56p of the illustrative £1
What does the National Lottery “prize pool” actually mean?
The biggest part of the ticket-money flow goes back to players as prizes. But “prizes” should not be confused with “the jackpot”.
Across the Fourth Licence, the illustrative average is 56p from each £1 of sales going to prizes. That prize return covers the whole National Lottery portfolio and all winning levels within it. It includes headline jackpots, smaller draw prizes, fixed prizes, scratchcard wins and interactive instant-win prizes.
It is not 56p added to tonight's jackpot
If you buy a £2 Lotto ticket, you cannot simply say that £1.12 of your ticket has been placed into that draw's jackpot. Individual games have their own prize structures and rules, and some money is used across multiple prize tiers. A jackpot may also roll from one draw to another, while fixed-prize games work differently again.
The real 2024/25 prize figure was £4.351 billion
For the financial year from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, the Gambling Commission recorded £7.886 billion in National Lottery sales and £4.351 billion paid out as prizes. Expressed as a simple pence-per-pound figure, that was 55p of every £1 of sales for that year.
That is why this page distinguishes between the expected long-run licence split and the actual figures recorded in a particular year. The game mix, jackpot cycles, claims and other licence calculations can move the annual result.
23p of the illustrative £1
Where the Good Causes share goes
Good Causes are a separate part of the National Lottery system. The money does not simply become general government revenue and Allwyn does not decide which local project gets a grant.
The current illustrative average assigns 23p from each £1 of National Lottery sales to Good Causes. Under the Fourth Licence, contributions are calculated through a mechanism that includes a fixed contribution from the operator plus a proportion of the surplus generated after relevant costs and adjustments.
The money is paid into the National Lottery Distribution Fund and then apportioned to statutory distributing bodies. Those distributors make grant decisions independently, at arm's length from government.
40%CommunityCharitable activities, health, education and the environment through The National Lottery Community Fund.
20%Arts & cultureDistributed through arts bodies across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, plus the BFI.
20%SportDistributed through UK Sport and the national sports funding bodies.
20%HeritageDistributed through The National Lottery Heritage Fund across the UK.
If the 23p illustrative Good Causes share were split directly: about 9.2p of each £1 would correspond to community funding, with about 4.6p each corresponding to arts, sport and heritage. That is an illustration of the statutory 40/20/20/20 allocation, not a claim that each individual ticket is traced to a particular grant.
What is the “additionality” principle?
Lottery Good Cause money is intended to add to public benefit rather than replace core government spending. The government describes this as additionality. In practical terms, National Lottery grants can support community health or education projects, but they are not supposed to replace ordinary NHS clinical salaries, standard school budgets or other core statutory expenditure.
How much has the National Lottery raised for Good Causes?
By 2026, the government reported that the National Lottery had generated more than £53 billion for Good Causes since 1994. In the full 2024/25 sales breakdown, £1.808 billion was recorded as payable to Good Causes.
12p of every £1
Lottery Duty: the tax built into National Lottery sales
Lottery Duty is one of the simplest parts of the split because its rate is set in tax law.
HM Revenue & Customs charges Lottery Duty at 12% of National Lottery stake money. In other words, roughly 12p of every £1 of ticket sales is due as Lottery Duty. The operator is responsible for accounting for that duty to HMRC.
This is not a 12% tax on the winner
The Lottery Duty is charged on the ticket or chance sold; it is not deducted from a winner's advertised UK National Lottery prize. That is a different question from what can happen to money after it has been won, invested, gifted or left in an estate. MLL covers that separately in our UK lottery winnings tax guide.
Where does Lottery Duty go?
Lottery Duty is paid to HM Treasury and contributes to wider public spending. It should not be confused with the Good Causes share, which follows a separate route through the National Lottery Distribution Fund and its distributors.
The delivery side
Retailers, operating costs and Allwyn's profit
The remaining part of the illustrative £1 covers the cost of selling and running the National Lottery, plus the operator's profit.
5p
Operating costs
About 5p is shown as the illustrative average for the costs of operating the National Lottery. Under the Fourth Licence, allowable costs feed into the calculation of the surplus from which Good Causes contributions and profit are determined.
1p
Operator profit
The government illustration shows about 1p per £1 as operator profit across the Fourth Licence. This is an average illustration, not a fixed 1% margin on every ticket or every accounting period.
Who operates the National Lottery now?
Allwyn Entertainment Ltd became the National Lottery licensee on 1 February 2024, replacing Camelot as the operator when the Fourth National Lottery Licence began.
Why the Fourth Licence changed the profit model
The Gambling Commission designed the Fourth Licence to bring the operator's commercial incentive closer to the amount raised for Good Causes. The Commission says the new mechanism means Allwyn's profits are more closely aligned with Good Causes returns, rather than treating operator profit and Good Cause performance as largely separate outcomes.
This matters when reading the 1p figure. It is better understood as the government's illustrative average across the licence, not a simple fixed slice that Allwyn automatically keeps from every pound.
What actually happened
The real National Lottery split in 2024/25
The first full financial year under Allwyn gives us an official reality check against the illustrative long-run £1 split.
£7.886bnTicket salesTotal National Lottery sales, 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
£4.351bnPrizes paidEquivalent to 55p per £1 of sales.
£1.808bnGood CausesTotal funds payable, equivalent to 23p per £1.
£944.1mLottery DutyEquivalent to 12p per £1 of sales.
| Where the money went | 2024/25 amount | Approx. per £1 |
|---|---|---|
| Prizes paid out | £4,351.1m | 55p |
| Good Causes payable | £1,808.3m | 23p |
| Lottery Duty | £944.1m | 12p |
| Retailer commission | £240.5m | 3p |
| Costs and profit | £542.4m | 7p |
| Total sales | £7,886.3m | 100p |
Why is “costs and profit” 7p here when the illustration shows 5p + 1p? The 56/23/12/3/5/1 graphic is an expected average over the Fourth Licence. The Gambling Commission's 2024/25 statistical release reports the year's realised figures and combines costs and profit into one 7p category. Rounded pence figures can also make the headline pieces appear not to reconcile perfectly when compared line by line.
A second route into Good Causes
What happens to unclaimed National Lottery prizes?
A prize that is never claimed does not simply stay with the operator indefinitely.
After 180 days
For National Lottery draw games, prizes that remain unclaimed after 180 days of the draw date are passed into Good Causes. The same 180-day principle applies from the closure of scratchcard and interactive instant-win games.
Why Good Causes totals can jump
The Gambling Commission notes that unclaimed-prize payments occur throughout the year, and some quarters can be higher because of scratchcard game closures. These payments sit alongside the core Good Causes contribution.
So an unclaimed jackpot does not become Allwyn profit?
No. Under the National Lottery funding arrangements, expired unclaimed prizes form part of the money paid to Good Causes. That is one reason Good Causes receipts are not explained solely by applying a single percentage to ticket sales.
Why the numbers move
Why the ticket split is an average, not a rule for every game
It is tempting to read a pence-per-pound graphic as a fixed recipe. The real National Lottery is more complicated.
Different games have different prize economics
Draw games, scratchcards and interactive instant-win games do not all behave in the same way. Their prize structures, jackpot rolls, fixed prizes and sales patterns differ, so the overall annual prize percentage changes with the mix of games people buy.
The Good Causes calculation is licence-based
Under the Fourth Licence, Good Causes contributions are not simply a flat 23% invoice on every ticket. The licence uses a fixed contribution and a share of surplus, with defined costs and adjustments feeding into the calculation. The 23p figure is therefore best used as the public-facing expected average across the licence.
Sales and jackpot cycles matter
A very large EuroMillions jackpot can sharply increase sales, while periods with fewer headline jackpots can reduce them. The Gambling Commission's quarterly data shows that changes in EuroMillions and interactive instant-win sales can materially move overall National Lottery revenue and Good Causes contributions.
Keep exploring
Related MLL guides
Questions about where your ticket money goes
The short answers to the questions people most often ask about the split.
How much of a National Lottery ticket goes to prizes?
The current illustrative average across the Fourth Licence is 56p from each £1 of sales going to player prizes. In the actual 2024/25 financial year, the Gambling Commission recorded 55p per £1, or £4.351 billion of £7.886 billion in sales.
Does 56p of every £1 go into the jackpot?
No. The prize share covers all player prizes across the National Lottery portfolio, including smaller prize tiers, jackpots, scratchcards and interactive instant-win prizes. Individual games have their own prize structures.
How much of a National Lottery ticket goes to Good Causes?
The current illustrative average is 23p per £1 of sales. The actual 2024/25 Gambling Commission breakdown also recorded 23p per £1 as payable to Good Causes.
Where does National Lottery Good Causes money go?
The statutory split is 40% for community causes including charitable activities, health, education and the environment; 20% for arts and culture; 20% for sport; and 20% for heritage. Independent distributing bodies award the grants.
How much tax is paid on a National Lottery ticket?
Lottery Duty is 12% of National Lottery stake money, so it is equivalent to 12p per £1 of ticket sales. The operator accounts for this duty to HMRC.
Is Lottery Duty deducted from a winner's prize?
No. Lottery Duty is charged on stake money rather than deducted from the winner's advertised UK National Lottery prize. Separate tax issues can arise later from income, investments, gifts or estates.
How much does Allwyn make from each National Lottery ticket?
The government's illustrative Fourth Licence average shows about 1p per £1 of sales as operator profit and about 5p for operating costs. That is not a fixed margin on every ticket. The Fourth Licence links the operator's commercial incentives more closely to returns for Good Causes.
How much do National Lottery retailers receive?
The illustrative average shows around 3p per £1 of ticket sales going to retailer commission. The actual 2024/25 figure was also reported as 3p per £1, totalling £240.5 million.
What happens if a National Lottery prize is not claimed?
Prizes that remain unclaimed after the 180-day claim period are passed to Good Causes. For scratchcards and interactive instant-win games, the relevant 180-day period runs from game closure.
Does the government decide which Good Causes projects receive money?
Not directly. Good Causes money is allocated to statutory distributing bodies, which operate at arm's length and make grant decisions according to their own funding programmes and responsibilities.
Is the £1 split exactly the same for Lotto, EuroMillions and scratchcards?
No. The published 56p/23p/12p/3p/5p/1p split is an illustrative average across the Fourth Licence. Individual games and individual years can produce different realised percentages.
Sources & methodology
This page uses current official UK government and Gambling Commission material. Figures are labelled as either an illustrative Fourth Licence average or an actual recorded financial-year result so the two are not confused.
- Department for Culture, Media & Sport — National Lottery Good Causes: Fund what matters to you
- Gambling Commission — Pence per pound breakdown of National Lottery sales, 2024/25
- HM Revenue & Customs — Lottery Duty
- Gambling Commission — How we regulate the National Lottery
- Gambling Commission — Funds raised for Good Causes, Q1 2026/27
Independent information: My Lottery Life is not The National Lottery, Allwyn or the Gambling Commission and does not sell lottery tickets. Financial figures on this page are drawn from official published sources and may be revised in later statistical releases. Always use official game information when buying or claiming a ticket and only play with money you can comfortably afford to lose.