How Lottery Winnings Compare From Country To Country

How Lottery Winnings Compare From Country To Country

The history of the lottery is a long and fascinating one. Popular belief may be that it originated in Europe some time in the 17th century but, in actual fact, the activity is far older than that. There is considerable evidence that some form of numbers-based game of chance was played in China as long ago as 200 BCE. A couple of centuries later in Ancient Rome they also became popular entertainments as well as a way to raise funds for the state.

Moving to medieval times and beyond more and more countries started to employ lotteries for exactly this purpose and, finding them a more palatable method of raising money than taxation, this remains true today. In the UK alone the country’s National Lottery has helped to raise around £50 billion for good causes from charities to sports teams and from community initiatives to preserving the country’s heritage.

While players appreciate that a percentage of their ticket money is helping others their prime motivation will always be to win a life-changing sum if their numbers come up. So, which are the countries where these sorts of sums could be on their way to players?

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The UK

The country’s National Lottery was first set up in 1994 by the initial operators, Camelot. Today the franchise is run by a Czech-based company with the optimistic name of Allwyn Entertainment. The biggest ever jackpot won was £184,262,899 that was scooped by Joe and Jess Thwaite with a Lucky Dip ticket back in 2022. The reason that the figure was so high was that the prize had rolled over without a winner claiming it for a considerable number of weeks.

Canada

Compared with this, the prizes on offer in Canada’s main lottery draw are really quite modest. The highest standard jackpot is worth CA$5 million but there is the chance to qualify for the CA$60 million Gold Ball jackpot. Unlike the UK system there’s no rollover mechanism for unclaimed prizes. Canada have recently started to follow the UK’s lead on gambling legislation, taking a more liberal approach, and increasing numbers of residents are starting to seek out the best paying casino in Canada in the hope of hitting one of the big progressive jackpots on a slots game. As Canada starts to open up to gambling, the lottery jackpots might improve, but until then, they’ll continue to look fairly meagre compared to the UK and their neighbors in the US.

The US

Really huge prizes are the order of the day in the US. These don’t come from the State-run lotteries but more from the national ones called Powerball and Mega Millions. In one incredible example, the former awarded US$2.04 billion to player Edwin Castro in California. Edwin elected to accept his prize as a lump sum of around US$1 billion. Had he chosen to receive it in instalments over his lifetime it would have been the full US$2.04 billion.

Spain

The country that probably makes the biggest noise about its biggest lottery is Spain. It goes by the name of Loteria de Navidad and is the highlight of the festive season for many people. The first prize isn’t huge at just €4 million but the fact that it truly unites the country is its real significance. Tickets cost €200 so generally syndicates club together to buy them. In turn, this means that neighbours and friends tend to share the winnings.

The televised draw always take place on 22nd December with schoolchildren singing out the winning numbers when they are drawn.

Germany

In Germany the main lottery is called the 6 aus 49 for the simple reason that six winning numbers are drawn from a pool of 49, along with a seventh called the Superzahl or super number. It’s been some time since the record prize of €45.4 million was set, that was back in 2007. So anticipation is mounting for another big win.

Australia

1st February 2024 saw the biggest ever winner in the Australian Powerball lottery scoop the first prize of AUS$200 million, the result of a six-draw rollover. In a very unlikely coincidence, two holders had the same ticket so the prize was split in two. One of the winners, a woman from Queensland, is reported to have checked her ticket on waking on the morning after the draw – and decided that she must still be dreaming.

Europe

There’s one continent-wide draw called Euromillions that also offers an unbelievably large jackpot with the biggest ever being €250 million, won in August 2025. Because it’s played across nine European counties in a co-operative effort between ten different lottery operators this is why the prize fund grows so large.

In general, across all the lotteries we’ve looked at in this article it’s the number of participants that dictates the size of the prize. It’s also those which include rollovers that really hit the big numbers.

So if you’re seeking a lottery with a potentially huge payout, these are the ones to choose.

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