"Unclaimed Lottery Prizes Exceed 50 Billion Won, Including Unclaimed First-Prize Winnings"

Unclaimed Lotto Winnings '42.6 Billion KRW'
Must Be Claimed Within One Year of Payment Start Date

The amount of unclaimed lottery winnings exceeded 50 billion won last year. Among these, there was also a first-prize Lotto winning amounting to over 1.5 billion won.

Citizens buying lottery tickets. Photo by Asia Economy

According to the Lottery Commission of the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 8th, the scale of unclaimed lottery winnings from online lotteries (Lotto) and combined lotteries last year was calculated at 52.485 billion won. Looking at the scale of unclaimed lottery winnings over the past five years, it was 59.231 billion won in 2020, 51.574 billion won in 2021, and 49.245 billion won in 2022, showing a steady decrease, but it sharply increased to 62.71 billion won in 2023.

Regarding the decrease in unclaimed winnings again last year, a Lottery Commission official explained, "As a result of continuously strengthening publicity about claiming winnings, the unpaid amount last year decreased compared to the previous year."

By lottery type, unclaimed Lotto winnings were the highest at 42.6 billion won. Among these, there was one case of a first-prize winner who did not claim the money. The winning amount was 1.535 billion won. Following that, there were 31 cases of second prize (totaling 1.705 billion won), 1,476 cases of third prize (totaling 2.137 billion won), 131,822 cases of fourth prize (totaling 6.591 billion won), and 6,126,226 cases of fifth prize (totaling 30.631 billion won) in unclaimed winnings.

In addition, instant lotteries and other printed lotteries accounted for 6.214 billion won, and combined lotteries such as pension lotteries accounted for 3.671 billion won in unclaimed winnings.

For draw-type lotteries like Lotto, winnings must be claimed within one year from the payment start date. For instant lotteries, if the winnings are not claimed within one year from the end of the sales period, they expire. Winnings past the payment deadline are fully transferred to the lottery fund according to the Lottery and Lottery Fund Act and are used for various public interest projects such as welfare for low-income vulnerable groups, housing stability, scholarship projects, and cultural and artistic promotion funds.

According to Donghaeng Lottery, the lottery trustee, as of the 3rd, there are a total of 9 unclaimed high-value Lotto winnings (1st and 2nd prizes) with a claim deadline within two months. Among these, there are 4 first-prize and 5 second-prize cases. The payment deadline for the 1102nd draw held on January 13 last year expires on the 14th, and the payment deadline for the 1108th draw held on February 24 last year expires on the 25th of next month.