The top 15 European lottery jackpot records in History

If you thought all jackpot draw winners were created equal, then think again. European sweepstake participants and ticket-holders tend to be luckier than the Americans who buy coupons for the multistate lottery franchisees, Powerball and Mega Millions. All takings and winnings in lotteries across Europe, including the top purse or jackpot, are exempt from any sort of taxation i.e. you do not have to pay any tax for what or whatever you win.

For example, the biggest lottery in Europe called EuroMillions, like the Powerball or Mega Millions super lotto (that is open to 44 states in the US) is a multinational or transnational lottery that is open to players from 13 European countries including the Isle of Man, Andorra, Monaco, and Lichtenstein. The EuroMillions was launched in France on 7^th February 2004 and the debut draw was organized on 13^th February of that year. Powerball and Mega Millions jackpot winners have to forego a sizable proportion (more than 50%) of their takings in the form of taxes.

EuroMillions winners have been more fortunate on this account (by default) as they have been able to take home nearly their entire winnings. EuroMillions, since its launching has witnessed several landslide wins where every jackpot winner has collected at least a £20 million (or US$28.54 million or €22.99 million) purse.

15 biggest European winners of the lottery

There is a summary table of the 15 biggest European lottery winners below. In the following paragraphs below the table, the accounts of the top 15 European lottery jackpots have been mentioned in a nutshell.

1. Colin and Chris Weir from North Ayrshire in Scotland win the largest ever single-ticket EuroMillions jackpot of £161.1 million

Chris and Colin Weir happily married to each other for three decades became happiest on the night of 12^th July 2012. It was on that fateful Tuesday night that Colin, 55, a psychiatric nurse, and Chris, 64, a TV cameraman won an earth-shattering £ 161,653,000 EuroMillions top prize. The win ensured them a place in the ‘Sunday Times Rich List’ putting them above Sir Tom Jones and Ringo Starr, the legendary Beatle.

They spent a tiny proportion of the amount (which works out to a huge sum anyway) on purchasing a fleet of sleek autos for themselves and their close friends as well as a mansion. With the win, the couple became the largest EuroMillions jackpot winner in pound sterling.

2. Adrian and Gillian Bayford from Suffolk pocket a cool lone ticket £148.7 million EuroMillions top prize

After Gillian and Adrian Bayford from Haverhill, Suffolk scooped up £148, 656,700 EuroMillions jackpot purse on 10^th August 2012 they declared that they’d instantly reimburse relatives and friends who had loaned them money during their tough times. At the same time, they promised themselves that they would splurge on cars and exotic getaways. Adrian tried to disburse a sense of humour when he jokingly reminded Gillian that he had almost forgotten to buy coupons for the draw. The same amount was won again, once on 24^th October 2014 by a single ticket holder from Portugal and then on 6^th October 2017 by a player from Spain.

3. SuperEnalotto top purse of €117.7 million by a syndicate of 70 ticket holders

For the first time in the history of the SuperEnalotto lottery franchise, a massive and unprecedented top prize amount of €177.7 was won in 2010 on October 30^th by a syndicate of 70 ticket holders based in Milan. The ticket was purchased from a tobacconist, Via Dante Alighieri and the purse was equally distributed amongst the 70 members of the syndicate. Every member went home with a purse of more than €2.5 million each.

4. A lucky ticket holder from the Czech Republic scoops the biggest Eurojackpot purse of €90 million

The EuroJackpot draw organized in 2015 on 15^th May threw up a lucky winner whose ticket matched all the numbers picked up in the drawing and the EuroJackpot number. The jackpot amount of €90 million or £65.5 million was the largest ever top purse to be won in the history of the EuroJackpot franchise. The earlier record for the biggest jackpot was held by a ticket holder from Finland who won the purse in 2014. The lucky winner from the Czech Republic went home richer by 2,465,512,458.30 crowns or Koruna – that is a cool 2 billion in Czech legal tender!

5. A gargantuan £66.1 million National Lotto jackpot was pocketed by two ticket-holders

Two ticket holders in the UK laid claims to a gigantic £66.1 million National Lotto grand purse for the draw held on 9^th Jan 2016 (Saturday). Each ticket holder went back home richer by £33,035,323. Camelot, the franchise holder (of National Lotto) confirmed that one of the two lucky winners had turned up at the lottery offices to claim his/her share of the purse. The numbers on both the tickets bought by the joint winners had completely corresponded with the ones picked up in the draw-26, 27, 46, 47,  52, 58 and the bonus 48.

6. A three-ticket holder won the largest ever Swiss Lotto jackpot – CHF 70.1 million

Perhaps no other nationwide lotto franchise makes more millionaires than the Swiss Lotto. Since the first Swiss Lotto draw was held in 1970 on 10^th January, a total of 725 lucky ticket holders have won the top prize. Proceeds from the sale of tickets have been used for funding over 12,000 ventures. It was on 17^th December 2016 that the jackpot amount rolled over to an unprecedented high of CHF 70.1 million on 17^th December 2016.

This was the largest ever Swiss Lotto top purse that was carved up by three fortunate winners, each receiving a purse of CHF 23.36 million.

7. Three ticket holders win the biggest ever Lotto 6aus49 jackpot of €45.4 million

The German Lotto derives its name from the 6/49 sweepstake game. The player who correctly matches all the six numbers that are picked up during the draw along with the Super Number (known as Superzahl or SZ) is declared the winner of the jackpot. To date, the largest German lotto purse was jointly won by three ticket holders who shared a prize of €45.4 million. The draw was held in December 2017. Draws are organized twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

8. The highest jackpot in German Lotto 6aus49 of €37.7 million was won by a single ticket-holder

The biggest amount that has been won in the history of German Lotto 6aus49 is €37.7 million. This gargantuan amount was won by a player holding a single ticket who bought the same for the draw organized in 2006 on 7^th October. However, the largest amount in German Lotto history is set at €45.4 million which was pocketed by three winners in December 2007 (Story above this). The biggest syndicate to be scooped up was €17.7 million which was won in 2009 March. Winners of German lotto have tended to be very secretive about their wins and have resisted the urge to hold press conferences or give interviews to media houses.

9. The biggest Swedish lotto jackpot of SEK 237.67 million was won by a ticket holder from Norrkoping

You stand to win the Swedish lotto top purse when your ticket matches all the seven main numbers and at least numbers on the Joker pool. The biggest sweepstakes win yet to be registered in the history of the Swedish lotto is SEK 237.7 million which was won by a ticket holder from Norrkoping. The draw for the lottery was held on April 20^th 2013. The 2^nd biggest purse was pocketed in 2010 on March 27^th by a coupon holder from Helsingborg who received SEK 214, 595, 981.

10. A single-ticket holder scooped up the largest ever Swiss Lotto jackpot of CHF 48.6 million

The largest jackpot won in Switzerland was on a single ticket: The lucky winner got CHF 48.6 million which was claimed by a player on August 23^rd 2016. The winner wanted to stay anonymous.

11. Camelot confirms the winning of the largest ever National Lotto jackpot of £35.1 million by a single ticket holder

National Lotto franchise operator Camelot on Wednesday (6^th April 2016) announced that a single ticket holder staked a claim for £35.1 million. A spokesman for the National Lottery confirmed that the jackpot was the biggest ever in the history of the UK lotto. The spokesperson added that the winner appeared at the lottery office to receive the massive purse.

The winner whose ticket matched the draw numbers 15, 17, 31, 41, 50, 57, and the bonus 5 collected an amount of £ 35,133,888.

12. Utrecht resident wins the biggest StaatsLoterji top purse of €38.1 million in May 2013

A ticket holder from Utrecht staked a claim for the largest StaatsLoterji jackpot of €38.1 million on 10^th May 2013. This top purse amount was €8 million more than the jackpot of 30 million won by a Groningen resident in 2012.

13. Two ticket holders evenly split the biggest Francaise des jeux Loto jackpot of €30 million

France Lotto which organized its first-ever draw in 1936 is extensively popular with the French people. Nearly 98% of the population was aware of the rules and regulations of the sweepstakes and roughly 36% participated in the raffles. The largest top purse yet to be paid out in the SuperLotto is €30 million which was claimed by a ticket holder for the draw held in May 2006.

14. A single ticket holder from Val d’Isère picks up the biggest jackpot prize of €24 million

To date €24 million is the largest France Loto top prize to be won by a single ticket holder from the French resort town of Val d’Isère. The ticket holder who had bought the ticket for the draw held on 6^th June 2011 preferred to remain anonymous.

15. A player from Helsingborg wins the largest Svenska Spel lotto jackpot of SEK 215 million on a single ticket

A ticket holder from the Helsingborg region of Sweden became the largest winner of the Svenska Spel lotto on 27^th March 2010. The numbers on the ticket completely matched the numerals picked out in the draw making him eligible to claim SEK 215 million.