France Lottery

When the draws take place

Loto is drawn three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, at around 8:35pm Paris time (CET), with ticket sales closing shortly before the draw. Results are published the same evening on the FDJ website and app, and the draw is shown on television.
FDJ’s other headline game, EuroMillions, is drawn on Tuesday and Friday evenings. Loto also runs special promotional draws through the year with enlarged jackpots, described below.

How the game works

To play Loto, you choose 5 numbers from 1 to 49 and one Chance number from 1 to 10. A single line costs €2.20 (about US$2.40). You can pick your own numbers or use the Flash option for a random selection. To win the jackpot you must match all five main numbers and the Chance number.

There are 10 ways to win in total, with prizes starting from a €2.20 ticket refund for matching just the Chance number. The jackpot starts at €2 million and grows by €1 million each draw it is not won. It can roll over up to 34 times; if there is still no top-tier winner, the prize rolls down and is shared among winners in the next tier. Several optional add-ons are available:

2nd Tirage (second draw): for an extra €0.80, your same five main numbers are entered into a second drawing for prizes up to €100,000.
Loto Raffle: every line gets a raffle code, and ten codes are drawn at random to win a guaranteed €20,000 each.
Joker+: a separate 7-digit number game you can add on, with a top prize of €250,000.

Odds and prizes

Most Loto prizes are parimutuel, meaning the cash value of each tier is shared among its winners and varies from draw to draw. The jackpot is a guaranteed minimum of €2 million, the Match 5 prize is a fixed €100,000, and the lowest tiers return your €2.20 stake. The overall chance of winning any prize is 1 in 5.99.

Throughout the year FDJ holds promotional draws with boosted jackpots. SuperLoto events lift the jackpot to at least €13 million and often fall on dates such as Friday the 13th, while the Grand Loto de Noël (Christmas draw) is set at around €15 million.

Here is the full breakdown per line:

The largest lottery prize ever won in France came on EuroMillions, a game FDJ sells. In December 2021 a single French ticket holder won €220 million (about US$238 million), the record for any lottery win in the country. EuroMillions has produced several other nine-figure French winners over the years.

The Loto game itself regularly produces jackpots that climb into the tens of millions of euros, boosted by roll-overs and by the SuperLoto and Grand Loto de Noël special draws. Because French winners almost always choose to stay anonymous, they are rarely identified beyond the region where the winning ticket was sold.

France’s national lottery traces back to the Loterie Nationale, first drawn in 1933. The modern Loto draw game launched in 1976 and became a national sensation, helped by televised draws. The operator was renamed France Loto in 1989 and then La Française des Jeux in 1991.

FDJ helped launch the pan-European EuroMillions in 2004 together with the British and Spanish lotteries. For most of its history FDJ was state owned. In 2019 the French government privatised the company through a stock market listing, while retaining a stake of around 20% and keeping the lottery as an exclusive activity under state control.

You can play Loto in two main ways:

In-store: at any of FDJ’s roughly 30,000 points of sale across France, typically tobacco shops (tabacs), bars and newsagents. Fill in a playslip or ask for a Flash (random) ticket.

Online: through the official FDJ website (fdj.fr) and mobile app, where you can also play in advance and set up recurring entries.

You must be 18 or older to play. Official online play requires being in France, though players elsewhere sometimes enter through third-party concierge services that buy tickets on their behalf.

How to claim a prize

How you claim depends on the amount:

Smaller prizes: collect in cash at any FDJ retailer, or have them credited to your account if you played online.
Mid-size prizes: claimed at larger FDJ outlets or regional payment centres.
Large prizes: high-value wins, including the jackpot, are handled directly by FDJ by appointment, with confidential support for major winners.

An important detail: Loto prizes must be claimed within 60 days of the draw date. Keep your ticket safe, since it is the proof of your win. Prizes are paid in a single lump sum.

Taxes on winnings

Good news for players: Loto winnings are tax-free in France. Lottery prizes are not treated as taxable income, so you receive the full advertised amount as a lump sum with nothing deducted at the time of the win.

The usual caveat applies to what happens next. Any income you later earn from investing your winnings, such as interest or dividends, is taxable in the normal way, and large gifts can carry gift-tax implications. Very large amounts of wealth may also fall within France’s property wealth tax. Professional advice is sensible for a major win.

Can you stay anonymous?

Yes. French Loto winners can choose to remain anonymous. FDJ does not publish a winner’s identity without their consent, and the vast majority of French jackpot winners never go public. When FDJ shares a winner’s story, it is with permission and usually keeps the person unnamed, referring only to the region where the ticket was sold.

Winners are offered support and guidance on managing a sudden windfall, but there is no requirement to appear publicly or give interviews. The choice always rests with the winner.