Camelot UK has declared that National lottery sales have exceeded £8bn for the first time during 2020/21, resulting in the best-ever returns to good causes from sales revenue alone.

During the financial year 2020/21(April-to-March 2021), the National Lottery recorded total sales of £8.37bn, registering a £468m improvement on the previous year results.

Record sales were achieved against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which Camelot cited that ‘swift interventions’ supported a speedy recovery’ allowing lottery distributors to award more than £1bn in funding to UK good causes in response to COVID-19.

Chairman Sir Hugh Robertson stated: “This is the fourth consecutive year of rising sales since our strategic review in 2017.”