LA Lotteries Under 0.5% of Sector, Data Shows
UKGC Freedom of Information response reveals the small market share of council-run lotteries compared to larger society lotteries.
New data from the Gambling Commission shows local authority lotteries generated just £4.35 million in ticket sales in 2021-22. This represents less than half a percent of the combined market for society and local authority lotteries, highlighting their small scale.
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Council-Run Lotteries a Fraction of Non-National Lottery Market
London, UK – Local authority lotteries represent less than half a percent of the combined market for society and local authority lotteries in the UK, according to data released by the Gambling Commission (UKGC). A Freedom of Information (FOI) request dated 19 May 2023 asked the regulator to clarify the market proportion of these council-run schemes.
The response reveals that for the 2021-2022 financial year, local authority lotteries accounted for just 0.47% of total ticket sales when compared to the much larger society lottery sector.
Context: Understanding the Lottery Landscape
This data provides valuable context for consumers about the scale of different lottery types in Great Britain. While many local councils have launched their own lotteries to raise funds for good causes within their communities, their collective financial impact is minimal compared to large-scale society lotteries.
- Local Authority (LA) Lotteries: Run by local councils to support local projects. Prizes and proceeds are typically smaller in scale.
- Society Lotteries (SL): Run for the benefit of a non-commercial society, often a charity or a group of charities. This category includes major operators like the People's Postcode Lottery and The Health Lottery.
Crucially, the figures provided by the UKGC exclude the National Lottery, which operates on a vastly different scale and is governed by separate legislation.
The Data Breakdown
In its response, the UKGC provided specific figures for the period from April 2021 to March 2022:
- Total Proceeds (SL & LA Lotteries): £919,879,206.45
- Local Authority (LA) Lottery Proceeds: £4,350,078.00
- LA Lotteries' Market Share: 0.47%
These figures show that while the combined society and local authority sector generated over £919 million in ticket sales, council-run schemes contributed just over £4.3 million of that total.
Significance: A Matter of Scale
The data highlights the dominance of large society lotteries within this specific segment of the gambling market. For consumers, it illustrates that while supporting a local council lottery directly benefits their immediate community, the overall funds raised are a very small drop in the wider lottery ocean.
To put the figures into perspective, the National Lottery's operator reported total ticket sales of £8.09 billion for the same 2021-2022 period. This demonstrates that the £920 million market covered by this FOI request is itself a smaller part of the total UK lottery landscape.
The UKGC's disclosure provides a clear, data-backed benchmark for understanding the structure of the non-National Lottery market, confirming that council-led initiatives remain a niche segment.