National Lottery ticket revenue has fallen in the first six months of the 2020-21 financial year, although it still stands at Camelot's second highest ever figure.
Despite an 18% hit to sales at the start of the pandemic, the company achieved sales of £3.85bn.
This marks a decrease of £67.2m, or 1.7%, compared to the first half of 2019-20, when it achieved its record revenue figure.
During the onset of Covid-19, Camelot updated all of its advertising to prioritise the ability to play online or on mobile. This resulted in a significant shift in digital sales over the period.
There were more than 1.3 million new online registrations and a marked increase in traffic to The National Lottery’s digital channels.
The company also postponed a series of special jackpot draws that had originally been planned for April and May.
These measures helped to generate £863.7m for National Lottery good causes, excluding investment returns, which is £13.1m less than the same period last year.
The total raised for good causes since 1994 is now more than £42bn.
'We have moved quickly and decisively and adapted to the ever-changing situation'
Nigel Railton, chief executive at Camelot, said: “Like most other businesses, we’ve faced a lot of upheaval and challenges this year. At the start of April, we found ourselves in an unprecedented situation, with a sharp decline in sales, retail uncertainty and our EuroMillions game in jeopardy, as some of our partner countries were under strict lockdowns.
“To add to this, we had to move overnight to the vast majority of our employees working from home – so we’re enormously proud of this set of results. Thanks to the strong foundations we established following our strategic review – combined with our years of experience and some innovative thinking, we’ve moved quickly and decisively and adapted to the ever-changing situation.”
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