Lotto 6aus49 in Bayern

Bavaria is a state of contradictions, at least when it comes to Lotto. With €516 million in play volume in 2024, it is the second strongest state in absolute terms after North Rhine-Westphalia. Per capita, the picture looks very different: €39, rank 13 out of 16, level with Hamburg and Berlin. As a share of disposable income, Bavaria even comes last among all 16 states at 0.12 percent. The economically strongest large territorial state is the most cautious one when it comes to Lotto stakes.

That makes sense if you know the Bavarian economy. Bavaria traditionally has high incomes and, at 12.9 percent, the second-highest savings rate of all federal states, only just behind Baden-Württemberg. People who save an above-average share of their income tend to put less into expected-value-negative activities such as Lotto. The low per-capita rate is therefore not a sign of economic weakness. More the opposite: if you put money aside, you do not spend it on tickets.

What sets Bavaria apart from most other states in lottery terms is the distribution architecture. Bavaria is one of the states where lottery funds flow directly into the state budget, not through a separate foundation or clearly delimited funding databases. The Staatliche Lotterie- und Spielbankverwaltung transfers more than €400 million a year to the Bavarian state budget. According to finance minister Albert Füracker, in 2024 the total was around €523 million from lottery tax, profit transfer and casino levy.

From this pot, the Free State mainly supports sport, culture and heritage protection, but not as transparently as states with their own foundation. Funding specialists criticise exactly that: where lottery money flows directly into the state budget, as in Bavaria, the funding becomes less transparent. Anyone who wants to know where Bavarian Lotto money goes in concrete terms has to dig through ministry reports instead of opening a foundation recipient list.

One special feature is the link to casinos. Unlike most lottery companies, the Bavarian State Lottery and Casino Administration also operates the nine Bavarian casinos in Bad Füssing, Bad Kissingen, Bad Kötzting, Bad Reichenhall, Bad Steben, Bad Wiessee, Feuchtwangen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Lindau. In 2025, they generated €139 million, the highest gross gaming revenue in their history. Funds from both areas flow into the same state budget.

So if you hand in a ticket in Munich or Augsburg, you are not funding a specific foundation, but the general Bavarian state budget. What happens to it is decided by the relevant state budget. That is not necessarily bad, but it is less transparent than in Berlin, Brandenburg or NRW.