The Luckiest Numbers to Pick in order to Win the Lottery in the UK

Thu 28 Aug 2025 9.13 Olivia Cole

Since 1994, when the National Lottery was launched, thousands of people in the UK have become multi-millionaires. The first jackpot ever drawn was £5,874,778 – a tempting sum, certainly – but it was split between seven winners who, by comparison, took home rather modest amounts. Today, jackpots for certain games can exceed one hundred million pounds, inspiring more people to buy a ticket and put their faith in a handful of numbers.

Still, the chances of winning the lottery are very slim, and relying on sheer luck may not be the best strategy. Many believe that if they select just the right numbers, fortune will finally smile on them. But is it actually possible to pick the numbers that will win? Probably not, as lotteries operate on the principle of randomness. Nevertheless, some numbers appear surprisingly often, while others seldom bring punters any jackpot wins at all. With this in mind, our team at CasinoGuardian sifted through hundreds of lottery draws to present our readers with the luckiest (and unluckiest) numbers in the National Lottery.

Methodology

UK Lotto

Lotto, the first lottery game available in the UK under the National Lottery franchise, remains by far the most popular in the country. Between 15 and 45 million tickets are typically sold for each draw on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Players select six numbers from a pool of 59; if all of them match the numbers drawn, the jackpot is won, while five additional prize tiers are paid out for matching as few as two numbers. The jackpot can roll over up to five times, increasing in size each time.

Since the rules changed in 2015, when the number pool was increased from 49 to 59 numbers, the luckiest number in UK Lotto has been 52 – it has appeared among the main numbers 100 times in the past seven years. The second most frequently drawn number is 58 (92 times), followed by 39 (91 times). The least common main numbers, meanwhile, are 48 and 9, drawn only 66 and 67 times, respectively. The luckiest Bonus Ball is 38 – drawn 24 times – whereas the unluckiest is 35, appearing only four times in total.

EuroMillions

EuroMillions was introduced in 2004 as a transnational lottery game and can now be played in nine different countries, including the UK. It has a minimum guaranteed jackpot of €17 million, which can roll over to as much as €240 million. Players select five numbers out of 50 and add two Lucky Stars from a pool of 12. The rules have been amended several times, most recently in 2016, when the Lucky Stars pool was increased to 12.

Between 27 September 2016 and 20 September 2022, the most frequently drawn numbers were 20 and 21 (81 times each), 17 (80 times) and 42 (78 times). The unluckiest picks were 18, 22 and 40, appearing only 49, 50 and 51 times, respectively. When it comes to the Lucky Stars, the most frequently drawn were 3 (134 times) and 2 (133 times), while 5 and 10 were the least common winners.

Thunderball

With tickets costing from £1 and a jackpot of £500,000, Thunderball is one of the most popular lotteries in the UK. The first draw took place in 1999, but the game has evolved since then; in 2010 the ball pool was increased from 34 to 39 and larger, more numerous prizes were introduced. Under the current rules, players must pick five numbers from a pool of 39, plus one Thunderball; if all of them match the numbers drawn, they win the jackpot.

The number most frequently drawn in Thunderball is 30, which appeared 316 times between 12 May 2010 and 7 January 2023. The other lucky numbers are 29 (308 times), followed by 18 and 34 (305 times each). The least frequent numbers are 12 (258 times) and 35 (259 times). The most common Thunderball numbers are 13 (182 times) and 3 (179 times), while the least common are 9 (135 times) and 2 (148 times).

Set for Life

Launched on 18 March 2019, Set for Life is a relatively new lottery whose premise differs markedly from most lottery-type games – rather than offering a huge jackpot paid out at once, it gives winners £10,000 every month for 30 years. To win, players must select five numbers from a pool of 47 and one Life Ball out of 10.

The luckiest number in Set for Life is 21, which has appeared 57 times across 398 draws. The second most frequent number is 42 (56 times), followed by 40 (54 times). The least common number is 30 (28 times), followed by 1, 14 and 41 (32 times each). Life Balls 7 and 6 have been drawn the most – 50 and 49 times, respectively. The unluckiest Life Ball is 4, appearing a mere 30 times.