Builders picking Lotto ball 39 had the best chance of winning the UK national lottery in 2022

Builders were once again the luckiest by employment type among national lottery players in a year when more than one millionaire was made each day.

The trade was followed by teachers, drivers, retail workers, and administration staff, said Camelot, operator of the lottery.

In a roundup of facts for 2022 Camelot also found the number 39 was the Lotto ball cropping up most often in jackpot-winning combinations; it made 17 appearances. Other “lucky” numbers included 21, 13, 50, and 58. But perhaps it would be wise to avoid number eight as this ball appeared least often in winning selections – coming up just five times.

If astrology is your thing then Cancerians clearly has the Midas touch, coming in as the top star sign for winners. Leo and Aries were the joint-second luckiest.

Throughout 2022, 375 players become millionaires, sharing £1.3bn between them.

In the EuroMillions draw on 10 May, Joe and Jess Thwaite, from Gloucestershire, won £184m, becoming Britain’s biggest-ever national lottery winners. However, they have knocked off the top spot just months later when an anonymous ticket-holder scooped £195,707,000 in a July EuroMillions draw.

More than £4.5bn was paid out in prize money, with 782 players winning at least £50,000.

Andy Carter, Camelot’s senior winners’ adviser at the national lottery, said: “It’s been the busiest year of millionaire-making, including creating the biggest winners we have ever seen. Supporting our amazing players through these life-changing events is a privilege.”

The national lottery said it had raised a total of £47bn for good causes, with more than £1.9bn being raised in the last reported financial year to March 2022.

Camelot said: “From helping projects making a difference in communities across the country to supporting our athletes at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, every national lottery ticket bought helped to fund hundreds of thousands of good-cause projects.”