Society lotteries generate more than £1 billion yearly
Britain’s society lottery sector has topped £1 billion in annual revenue for the second consecutive year, with almost half a billion pounds flowing to charities and community causes as regulators simultaneously ramp up a crackdown on illegal lotteries.
Speaking at the Lotteries Council Annual Conference, Gambling Commission Director of Policy Ian Angus revealed society lotteries generated £1.1 billion in gross gambling yield (GGY) during the 2024/25 financial year, up 4.7% year-on-year.
That growth translated into £484.6 million raised for good causes across Britain, also up 4.8% from the previous year, underlining the growing role society lotteries now play in charitable fundraising.
Angus said around 17% of British adults participated in a society lottery between July and October last year, equivalent to roughly nine million people. That makes society lotteries the second most popular form of gambling in Great Britain behind the National Lottery and ahead of sports betting.
The Gambling Commission also revealed online and phone-based lottery sales continue to dominate the sector. Remote lottery products generated £793.3 million in GGY during 2024/25, compared to £314.9 million from non-remote channels.
“Interestingly the society lotteries sector, like many other areas of gambling and the wider economy, sees remote sales being dominant,” he said.
Despite the sector’s growth, Angus warned charities and lottery operators not to become complacent about compliance and consumer protection obligations.
“Playing a society lottery is regularly found to be a lower-risk gambling product, but that doesn’t mean operators can take their responsibilities any less seriously,” Angus said.
The regulator also detailed an aggressive escalation in its enforcement activity against illegal lotteries and unlicensed gambling operations.
According to Angus, the Commission successfully removed 356 illegal lotteries from social media platforms during 2025, nearly double the 190 removed in 2024. More than 1,100 gambling websites were also disrupted or geo-blocked during the last financial year.
The crackdown is expected to intensify after the Treasury allocated the Gambling Commission £26 million in additional funding over the next three years to expand its illegal gambling enforcement capabilities.
