With over 6,800 millionaires made since launch and £90BN in prize money paid out to lucky players across the UK, The National Lottery can today reveal the lucky locations in Wales. Are you living in a lucky hotspot and could it be you next?
In total since The National Lottery launched in 1994 there have been a whopping 389 millionaires made in Wales. Amazingly there have been 58 new Welsh millionaires made across just the past three years (1 April 2020 - 31 march 2023). These are part of a huge band of 2,235 players in Wales who have banked a National Lottery prize of over £50k.
The statistics, which include both publicity and non-publicity winners, reveal that in terms of millionaire making since the launch of The National Lottery it is Cardiff which tops the charts with a whopping 126. This total also places the city 8th luckiest across the entire UK. Swansea grabs second spot with 87 life changing big winners. The top three is completed by the Llandudno area across north Wales with 73 National Lottery millionaires.
Hoping to bring even more luck to the nation, a gang of Welsh lottery millionaires gathered to celebrate for all of Wales under the gaze of the ICC Wales’ 22-tonne Welsh Dragon. Among those raising a glass, and an iconic National Lottery ball, was Mark Francis (50), who with fiancé Helen Taylor (52), scooped a £1,000,000 National Lottery win in January 2022. Mark said,
“It’s been an amazing 18 months for us, winning the lottery is truly life changing. We’ve been able to buy a home, follow Wales to all Six Nations games and upgrade our cars. As cars, and driving, are my ‘thing’ this is more meaningful than it sounds! Driving my Audi Q3 RS brings me so much joy, every time I get in that car, it feels like I’m winning all over again!”
Helen adds, “After the win I had a health scare which definitely put everything into perspective but I was lucky once again, and now firmly on the mend we can really start to enjoy the win. We’ve been busy planning our wedding, and I feel blessed that I can choose things I want rather than what the budget dictates, having said that I’m not going wild, I’m still keeping a keen eye on the pennies.
“Sharing the luck is important to us so we recently bought a caravan on The Gower which means that friends and family can enjoy short breaks and family holidays too. It’s already proving so popular with my mother and our grandchildren I’m not sure how much time we will actually get to spend there!
“Congratulations to everyone in Wales - I’ve always known we are some of the luckiest people around. And everyone should remember that it could be you, as long as you have a ticket in your pocket!”
Looking at millionaires made per head of adult population we can see that luck lives in every corner of Wales. Since The National Lottery was launched it is the Llandudno area, with one millionaire for every 6,115 adults that tops the lot. Cardiff is next with 1 in 6,527 and Newport crashing into third with 1 in 6,784 adults banking a one million pounds plus win.
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 country paying out big winners so I know there is luck around every corner in Wales and across the UK and just having a ticket means it could be you next. Hopefully I’ll see you soon.”
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. A huge 2,235 of these are in Wales and dividing these wins by the local adult population reveals even more lucky locations. These stats, based on all big wins per head of adult population, place Newport first with 1 in every 944 adults banking a big prize. This places Newport sixth luckiest overall across the entire UK.
By playing any National Lottery game, players generate £30M each week for National Lottery-funded projects. In all This money helps support everything from the local charity making a difference where you live through to helping our nation’s athletes 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 3 LUCKIEST PLACES IN WALES (BY MILLIONAIRES MADE SINCE LAUNCH)
- CF - Cardiff - 126
- SA - Swansea - 87
- LL - Llandudno - 73
MILLIONAIRES PER HEAD OF ADULT POPULATION SINCE LAUNCH IN WALES
- LL - Llandudno - 1 in 6,115
- CF - Cardiff - 1 in 6,527
- NP - Newport - 1 in 6,784
HIGH TIER WINNERS PER HEAD OF ADULT POPULATION IN WALES SINCE LAUNCH (£50,000 OR MORE)
- NP - Newport - 1 in 944
- LL - Llandudno - 1 in 1,116
- CF - Cardiff - 1 in 1,177
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