Where does lottery revenue go?
Only part of lottery revenue is paid back in prizes. The rest funds schools, sports, culture and social security.
When someone buys a lottery ticket, the money is split between prizes, mandatory contributions to public programs, retailer commissions and operating costs. The proportions vary by country.
Brazil: around 40% returned as prizes in the New Year's draw
Mega da Virada 2025 generated more than R$3 billion. Six jackpot winners shared R$1.09 billion, or roughly 36% of revenue; including lower prize tiers brought payouts to almost R$1.2 billion, or 40%. Brazil's federal lottery revenue distribution is set by law and funds social security, public safety, sports, culture and student financing.
United States: money for the states
Since 1992, Powerball has generated more than US$36 billion for public programs, according to its organizers. More than half the price of every ticket stays in the state where it was sold, with states deciding how to spend it. New York Lottery, one of North America's largest, provided US$3.7 billion to education in fiscal year 2022–23.
In Spain, roughly 70% of the El Gordo ticket allocation goes back to participants as prizes.
Spain: the draw that returns the most
El Gordo is a special case. In 2025, tickets totaling €3.96 billion were issued and prizes reached €2.772 billion, or 70% of the total. This makes it one of the world's most generous draws, even though no single prize approaches US jackpots.
Why it matters
Understanding how much revenue becomes prize money helps explain lotteries as they are: a form of public financing where players receive less than they pay on average. The mathematics is explained in Why winning the lottery is so hard.