Belgium’s National Lottery, Loterie Nationale, managed to sustain year-on-year turnover levels during 2020 despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, generating €15m more on the year for good causes compared to 2019.

The impact of the pandemic notwithstanding, the lottery’s turnover was €1.436bn in 2020, tracking closely to its 2019 turnover of €1.442bn.

Loterie Nationale’s strategy has allowed it to achieve an average growth per year of 4.5% over the past five years. Thanks to its players, it was able to reinvest €335m in Belgian society in 2020, an increase of €15m compared to 2019.

At the end of the year, the lottery had 7,743 points of sale over a local network that was more extensive than ever across the whole country.

Jannie Haek, CEO of Loterie Nationale, said: “Many Belgians play our games for a small amount. It gives them pleasure, it gives them a chance to win but it also allows them to help countless initiatives in the social, cultural and scientific sector.”

Haek continued: “In the end, it is the community and the community that emerges from the good results of the lottery via the monopoly rent that we pay to the State (€135m) and via the €200m subsidies that we will grant to a large number of organizations charities across the country that are in great need in the context we know. More than ever, the National Lottery is more than just playing!”

Bookstores remain key partners of the lottery and generate 50% of its total turnover. Meanwhile, digital sales continue to grow, as they generated 23% of turnover, with 56% of digital revenue coming from mobile (smartphones and tablets).

In 2020, the lottery had 94,146,632 winners sharing €817,587,974. The new Lotto game is so familiar with its players, it recorded its best selling result since 2013, namely €444m. Instant games, meanwhile, continued to grow and generated sales of €392m.

EuroMillions had a difficult year (€496m) which can be explained in particular by jackpot levels lower than 2019. The Spanish lottery stopped participating in the game for several months due to the coronavirus.

Last November, the lottery launched a new European drawing game, Vikinglotto.