A Freedom of Information (FOI) request obtained by AJ Bell’s Dodl investing app reveals that nearly two-thirds of Premium Bond holders, equivalent to just under 14.4 million people, have never won a prize.
Premium Bonds are held by around 22.7 million people which makes them one of the UK’s most popular savings products, despite the majority of Premium Bond holders never winning anything.
Millions more £50 and £100 prizes have been dished out since 2022, and they now make up a larger proportion of winning prizes than the lowest £25 prize. Although the number of higher value prizes has also seen a jump, the vast majority of Premium Bond prizes were worth £100 or less in 2024, meaning the chance of winning the top prizes is still very small.
There is a whopping £127.7 billion sat in Premium Bonds, with the average overall holding coming in at £5,406. However, the average holding for the 5.1 million Premium Bond holders who won in the last 12 months sits at £23,397, with 80% of those winners winning more than once during that period.
When you factor in that many people will have been holding Premium Bonds for decades, perhaps receiving them as gifts when they were young, that means they may have missed out on significant returns in a higher paying cash account or by investing.
Source: FOI obtained from NS&I by AJ Bell. *2025 figures up to 5 March 2025.
Charlene Young, senior pensions and savings expert at AJ Bell, comments:
“Premium Bonds have long been a popular place for savers to stick their cash and try their luck at winning a prize in the monthly draws, yet data obtained from a Freedom of Information request by AJ Bell’s Dodl investing app reveals that two-thirds of people holding these bonds have never won anything. Of the 22.7 million current Premium Bond holders, a staggering 14.4 million have never won.
While there has been a recent shift to most winners receiving prizes of £50 or £100, instead of the lowest £25 on offer, the vast majority of winning prizes in 2024 were still worth £100 or less. The chance of winning any of the top prizes (from £5,000 all the way up to £1 million) remains miniscule. The market is still flush with cash accounts (including tax-free ISAs) paying rates higher than the Premium Bond estimated prize fund rate of 3.8%, meaning holders might benefit from shopping around to make their cash work harder.
According to NS&I, £127.7 billion is held in Premium Bonds, meaning there is a huge amount of money making no return whatsoever when savers could otherwise be raking in more than 4.5% if they were to shop around for other products on the market, including AJ Bell Dodl’s Stocks and Shares ISA, which pays interest of 4.58% AER variable on cash.
There were 5.1 million prize winners in the 12 months between March 2024 and February 2025, and of those around 80% won multiple times. What’s more, the average holding for those prize winners during this period was £23,397 – far higher than the average £5,406 holding across all customers.
There’s a chance even the average holding won’t win a prize, meaning savers might be better off considering other options with their cash rather than leaving it to chance in a Premium Bonds account, particularly over the long term. For example, if they took more risk and invested the money instead, putting that £5,406 in the Fidelity Index World global tracker fund 10 years ago, they’d be sitting on a pot worth £14,794 today, even despite the recent market falls**. Of course the lure of Premium Bonds is that you might win the big, £1 million prize, but these figures show that it’s very unlikely, especially if you have a small amount saved in the bonds.”
Based on data obtained by AJ Bell from the NS&I via a Freedom of Information request, accurate as of 18 March 2025. The number of current holders who have not won a prize is based on data from February 1994 onwards and includes new holders who were not eligible as their Bonds were not beyond one month purchased.
Based on FE data, accurate to market close on 25 April 2025. Doesn’t take into account platform fees.
