Lotto 6aus49 in Hamburg

Hamburg is Germany's strongest economic region. In 2024, GDP per capita was €84,486, the highest figure of all federal states and clearly ahead of Bremen and Bavaria. In a European comparison, the Hanseatic city even ranked 6th among 240 EU regions in 2019, with purchasing-power-adjusted GDP per capita 95 percent above the EU average. Measured by economic output per resident, Hamburg is one of Europe's richest regions.

You do not see much of that in Lotto. €39 per capita per year, rank 13 out of 16, level with Bavaria and Berlin. As a share of disposable income, Hamburg ranks 14th at 0.13 percent. The republic's strongest economic location is therefore one of the most restrained when it comes to Lotto stakes. Hamburg residents could afford more, but they do not play more.

What makes Hamburg special in lottery terms is not play behaviour, but the funding architecture. Hamburg is considered Germany's foundation capital with more than 1,500 foundations, some reaching back to the 13th century. Lotto money flows into this dense network of civic engagement as one building block among many. In 2024, LOTTO Hamburg transferred around €64 million for the public good, based on €182.8 million in stakes across all lottery games. That was a 6 percent increase year on year.

One Hamburg feature is the BINGO! environmental lottery, whose proceeds specifically benefit nature and environmental protection. In 2024 alone, 109 projects in this field were funded. LOTTO Hamburg also supports Hamburg sport as an official cooperation partner with €420,000 a year from its own marketing funds, not from statutory earmarked levies, but from the operating-cost pot of the lottery company.

So anyone handing in a ticket in the Schanze or in Eppendorf funds less than one might expect in relative terms, but does so in a state that embeds Lotto money in a dense, centuries-old foundation network, with a special emphasis on nature conservation.