Most Common Lotto 6/49 Numbers

Which Lotto 6/49 numbers come up the most? Are some numbers "hot", and are others "due"? We counted every number drawn in all 432 draws since 14 September 2022, as far back as our records go. And then we checked whether any of it actually means something. Let's find out!

  1. The most and least common numbers
  2. Hot and cold numbers
  3. The most common pairs
  4. Does any of this mean anything?
  5. The numbers that can make a difference

The most and least common numbers

In Lotto 6/49, 6 numbers are drawn from 49. So over 432 draws, each number should have come up around 53 times. Here's how they actually did.

How many times each number was drawn
Most common
Number Times drawn Last drawn
9 66 24 October 2026
37 64 31 October 2026
17 62 12 September 2026
41 62 9 September 2026
42 62 19 September 2026
39 61 30 September 2026
10 60 28 October 2026
7 58 3 October 2026
23 58 17 October 2026
49 58 28 October 2026
Least common
Number Times drawn Last drawn
24 42 29 August 2026
47 42 24 October 2026
19 44 26 September 2026
1 45 31 October 2026
2 46 26 August 2026
6 46 2 September 2026
16 46 31 October 2026
43 46 30 September 2026
12 47 10 October 2026
31 47 22 August 2026

Number 9 leads the way with 66 draws, while number 24 has only come up 42 times. That's quite a gap! But before you rush to play 9, hold that thought: we'll see why in a moment.

Hot and cold numbers

"Hot" numbers are the ones that have come up the most lately, and "cold" numbers are the ones that haven't been drawn for a while. Some players swear by them, either riding the hot streak or betting that a cold number is due.

Hot: most drawn in the last 50 draws
Number Times drawn
9 11
33 11
37 11
1 10
5 10
Cold: not drawn for the longest
Number Draws since
40 41
44 26
36 21
31 20
2 19

Here's the thing though: the balls have no memory. A number that came up three times last month is no more likely to come up tonight, and a number that hasn't been drawn in 41 draws isn't any closer to being "due". Every draw starts from scratch.

The most common pairs

Which two numbers have come up together the most?

Pair Times drawn together
4 and 27 15
9 and 17 13
1 and 37 12
3 and 39 12
9 and 30 12

With 1,176 possible pairs, a few were always going to come up together more often than the rest. Just like the numbers on their own, it's chance at work.

Does any of this mean anything?

Probably not, and we can check! Even with perfectly random balls, some numbers come up more than others. Flip a coin 100 times and you'll rarely get exactly 50 heads. The real question is whether the gaps are bigger than chance alone would produce.

Statisticians answer that with a chi-square test. For the 432 draws above, it tells us that perfectly random balls would give a spread at least this uneven 94% of the time. In other words, nothing out of the ordinary: the numbers are just as random as they should be.

So the most common numbers aren't any more likely to be drawn next, and the least common ones aren't due either. Every combination has exactly the same chance. Want to put that to the test? Play your favourite numbers thousands of times in our Lotto 6/49 simulator, for free.

If every number is just as likely to be drawn, does it matter which ones you pick? It does, a little, because of the other players. When you win, you share the prize with everyone else who picked the same numbers. Pick numbers that few other people play, and you would share less.

We can tell which numbers are popular from the winners: when a popular number is drawn, more tickets win. From 431 draws, here's what other Lotto 6/49 players pick, and avoid. We explain how this works in should you pick birthday numbers?

Least popular with players
Number Winners when drawn
32 3% fewer than average
34 3% fewer than average
6 2% fewer than average
49 2% fewer than average
27 2% fewer than average
4 2% fewer than average
Most popular with players
Number Winners when drawn
47 7% more than average
15 5% more than average
19 4% more than average
26 3% more than average
23 2% more than average
7 2% more than average

It won't change your odds of winning, only how much you would win. But if you're going to pick numbers anyway, it's the one thing the data says can actually help!