Lotto 6aus49 in Nordrhein-Westfalen

In absolute terms, North Rhine-Westphalia is the undisputed Lotto leader. €778 million in play volume in 2024 is by far the highest figure of all states, followed by Bavaria with €516 million. Per capita, the picture becomes more modest: €43 means 6th place out of 16, a solid upper-middle position. As a share of disposable income, NRW also sits in the middle at 0.16 percent.

What makes NRW unique in Lotto terms is the history of funding for the public good. WestLotto was founded in 1955, the same year as German 6aus49 itself. Since then, more than €32 billion from NRW lottery proceeds has flowed into charitable purposes. That figure carries no small claim: WestLotto calls it the "most successful financing of social structures in Germany". Self-praise, yes, but also backed by facts: in 2024 alone, €767 million went to the public good, the highest figure in two decades.

NRW has a mixed model for distributing Lotto money. Around 40 percent of every euro played goes via the state of NRW to public-benefit associations and organisations. The funds are allocated partly through the state and partly through public funding foundations, each with a clearly defined mandate. That makes the NRW model more transparent than Bavaria's direct-to-state-budget model and a little more diverse than the pure ministry models in Brandenburg or Thuringia.

The most important of these foundations is the NRW Foundation for Nature Conservation, Local Heritage and Cultural Preservation, which has supported more than 3,500 charitable initiatives since it was founded. There is also Kunststiftung NRW for art and culture, and Sportstiftung NRW, one of the key contacts for Paralympic athletes in the state. This foundation landscape is exemplary within Germany because it combines clear thematic responsibilities with a traceable distribution of funds.

In everyday life, the flow of Lotto money in NRW becomes especially visible. If you go to Cologne Cathedral, you see a building whose preservation is also supported by Lotto funds through the Westfälischer Dombauverein St. Maria zur Wiese in Soest and the Dombauverein Soest. If you donate blood at the German Red Cross, work in an AWO nursery or belong to a sports club, you are very likely touching organisations that are co-funded by lottery proceeds. Nowhere else in Germany are these points of contact as dense as in NRW, because the play volume and therefore the funding volume are so high.

An honest owl observation on the side: the size of the NRW lottery is also a consequence of the size of the state itself. With around 18 million residents, NRW accounts for almost one fifth of Germany's population. If NRW were its own country, it would be roughly on the population level of the Netherlands. The high absolute Lotto figures are the natural consequence of that size, not a mirror of special enthusiasm for playing. Per capita, NRW sits in the upper middle, not at the top.