Camelot, operator of the UK's National Lottery, announced ticket sales of £7.21bn ($9.15bn) for the 12 months ended 31 March, an increase of 4% year-on-year.

Camelot’s performance for the financial year saw it generate £1.65bn, excluding investment returns, for good causes.

Throughout the year, Camelot awarded £4.13bn in prize money to its players, as well as creating 406 brand new millionaires.

National Lottery’s digital sales hit a record £1.83bn, following investment into its digital channels and improvements to the National Lottery mobile app.

Scratch cards and online instant win games also recorded all-time high figures, increasing 10% to £3.13bn.

Retail has remained the largest sales channel for National Lottery, with almost 75% of total sales coming through in-store terminals. Sales during this period reached £5.4bn, an increase of 1%.

Camelot announced plans to increase its sales force and make sure more National Lottery games are to become available at self-checkouts to help improve the speed and service of sales.

Camelot spent 4% of total revenue on operations, making it one of the most cost-efficient major lotteries in Europe.

Nigel Railton, Camelot CEO, said: “We’ve spent much of the last 12 to 18 months getting our draw-based games back in good health – with a more balanced portfolio that now offers something for everyone and making improvements to our scratchcards and online instant win games in terms of product design, range, merchandising and availability.”