A revamped Lotto format could produce more millionaires than ever before, with 140 players already becoming millionaires this year—one every 48 hours. More than half of those wins came after the new-look Lotto game launched in June, giving players two chances to win on the same ticket.
Birmingham leads all-time winners
Organisers expect the changes could double the number of new Lotto millionaires each year. Data going back to the lottery's 1994 launch shows Birmingham leads the UK with 234 recorded winners, followed by Belfast with 202 and Glasgow with 178. The figures include both public winners and those who remain anonymous.
The top postcode areas for Lotto winners are Birmingham (234), Belfast (202), Glasgow (178), Sheffield (171), Liverpool (166), Manchester (163), Newcastle (154), Cardiff (144), Peterborough (142), and Leicester (127).
Motherwell tops per-capita rankings
Larger postcode areas naturally have more winners due to higher populations. Comparing totals with estimated adult populations offers a better insight into how lucky an area is. By this measure, Motherwell tops the table with one millionaire per 4,156 adults—about 2.41 millionaires per 10,000 adults. Watford comes second and Liverpool third, with Dumfries and Llandrindod Wells also in the top 10.
Kathy Garrett, Winners Experience Lead at Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, said: "One of the things we love most about The National Lottery is seeing luck turn up in every corner of the UK. From big cities to small towns, we've celebrated thousands of life-changing wins over the years, and these figures show that there is no single postcode for luck."
Recent winners and higher-tier prizes
For the past three years, Manchester leads the millionaire table with 30 recorded wins since 2023, followed by Liverpool with 29 and Birmingham with 27. Belfast, Portsmouth, Leicester, Glasgow, Nottingham, Peterborough and Swansea also feature in the recent top 10.
Data also reveals areas where players won prizes below £1 million but still life-changing. The 'Higher Tier' winner count includes wins over £50,000 but under £1 million, separate from millionaire totals. Liverpool and Romford are the only areas on both lucky lists, with other Scottish areas also among the most likely for big wins. The top areas for Higher Tier winners per head of population are Galashiels (1 in 792), Romford (1 in 793), Sunderland (1 in 815), Cleveland (1 in 839), Perth (1 in 846), Dundee (1 in 893), Liverpool (1 in 906), Newcastle (1 in 920), Medway (1 in 926), and Doncaster (1 in 928).
