Lottery Demographics

Who Does the Lottery in Ireland?

In 2011, a survey found that a massive 2.2 million Irish people (64 percent of the adult population) reported playing National Lottery games, with 1.5 million (42 percent) of those saying that they took part every week. The Lotto Plus game arrived in 2000, and it is estimated that more than 90 percent of Lotto players play the Lotto Plus game in addition to the main Lotto game. As of Feb 2016 Leitrim was the unluckiest county in Ireland in terms of Irish Lotto jackpot wins, trailing well behind the next lowest Laois. 

Of course scratch cards are hugely popular in Ireland too, and at Lottoland we recently had a lucky winner from Longford thanks to one of our range of online scratch cards. 

How Many People Do The lottery?

It turns out a staggering 70% of the UK's over 18s take part in the national lottery on a regular basis, which is close to 45 million people. (That's about the same amount of people that live in Ukraine.) On top of that at least 50% of the overall population do more than once a month, and on average they buy a minimum of 3 tickets each week.  

January 6th, 1996 saw the very first double rollover in the United Kingdom, prompting a staggering 86% of the population of Britain to dash out to buy a ticket! In fact the lottery is so popular in the UK that even our dear old Queen has had a go, and banked £10 on the very first lotto draw. Leading to host of happy headline writers who could run with "One's Won" the following day. 

Take a look at the infographic we've designed which goes into details on just who buys lottery lines and scratch-cards on both sides of the pond:

Note: these are statistics for the main draws, not for betting online with Lottoland using one of our betslips.

Lottery Demographics

The demographic of lottery participants is far broader than one might expect. For starters it is an even split between men and women, at least in the United Kingdom.

Of 18 to 25 year olds, roughly 1/6 of this age range do the lottery at least once a month. Between the ages of 25 and 34 around 1/3 buy a ticket, while half of over 35s partake in a lottery draw at some point during any given month. Studies have shown that if you are upper and middle class, you are less likely to partake in a lotto draw than someone who is working class. And finally… people on benefits are 4% more likely to buy a ticket than those who are not.

Scratchcards

Just under 1/4 of British citizens buy a scratchcard at least once a month, while over 50% buy one at least once in a calendar year. That shows that all of us like to scratch that itch, at least once in a while! When it comes to age groups, 55-64 year olds were the most likely to purchase a scratchcard, with 31% of that age range picking up at least one a month.

Here at Lottoland we offer some amazing instant win scratchcards, with top prizes on offer going into the millions - quite a bit bigger than you will find on the card you pick up in your local shop!

What Happens After You Win?

85% of lottery winners never reveal their identity, which means we are unable to account for a vast proportion of them. However, we do know that over 90% of winners continue to buy tickets even after they have won. And of those winners, 70% of them are convinced they will win again. What motivates the other 30% is unknown!

Here's a little bonus fact for you: Over 10,000 people use the numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6 every week in the UK. What this means is that if these numbers were to be drawn, a jackpot of 5 million would pay each member just £500.

USA

57% of the American population, 181 million people, buys at least one lottery ticket in a year. Unlike in the UK, American men are more likely than American women to pick up a ticket, especially if they don't live alone, as findings reveal single Americans spend less on the lottery than people with partners or families 

In the states, 30-64 year olds are the demographic that purchases the most lottery tickets, while participants aged 50-64 spend the most per week, an average of $6.72. If you're 18-29, or over 65, you are statistically less likely to buy more than one ticket. Speaking of money, if your income is between £30,000 and £50,000 you are in the demographic of Americans that buys tickets for lotto draws the most often.

In the run up to the mega $1 billion PowerBall draw, 1 and a half tickets were sold for every resident of the state of California. The draw was eventually won by Florida resident Gloria MacKenzie, making her the world-record holder for the largest single-ticket lottery jackpot win.