If you spend winter in Italy, you’ll start seeing colourful biglietti for Lotteria Italia in every tobacco shop and motorway service station. This isn’t just any “Italian lotto” game, but a once‑a‑year national lottery that blends nostalgia, TV shows and the dream of a big windfall.
What is Lotteria Italia and how the Italian Lottery works
Lotteria Italia is Italy’s big national raffle‑style lottery, traditionally linked to the Christmas and Epiphany period. You buy a pre‑printed ticket with a unique code, and prizes are awarded by drawing those codes in the estrazione finale. It’s more like a giant tombola with serious money attached than a numbers game.
Forming part of Italy's festive traditions, it happens once a year around the holidays, so there’s a big build‑up and a lot of media attention.
Lotteria Italia vs other Italian lotto games
When you first arrive in Italy, the vocabulary can be confusing because locals say “gioco il Lotto” or talk about SuperEnalotto as if it’s all the same thing. In reality, classic Lotto is a long‑running numbers game based on draws in specific cities, while SuperEnalotto is the big jackpot game with famously hard odds but headline‑grabbing prizes. Lotteria Italia sits in a separate category as a raffle: you buy a ticket with a code printed on it and wait to see if that exact code is drawn.
If you’re wondering which lottery is best in Italy, it really depends on what you want. SuperEnalotto tends to have the biggest jackpots but tiny chances of winning. Lotto offers more frequent draws and different ways to play your favourite numbers. Lotteria Italia usually has better odds than a giant rollover jackpot game because the number of tickets is finite, but the prize pool is also spread across multiple tiers and often daily prizes.
For beginners and casual players, Lotteria Italia can actually be the simplest option because there’s no number selection strategy to worry about.
How to play Lotteria Italia
Playing Lotteria Italia is straightforward once you know the basic rules. Each year, a specific edition is announced and ticket sales open for a limited period in the run‑up to the final draw.
Each biglietto carries a unique alphanumeric code, which is what enters you into the game. You don’t have to register numbers or fill anything in at the point of sale. Sales close shortly before the estrazione finale to allow the system to finalise the list of participating tickets.
Lotteria Italia tickets and prices
During the season for Lotteria Italia, you’ll see the tickets promoted in tabaccherie, some bars and cafés, motorway service stations and other authorised outlets. Tickets for Lotteria Italia 2025 went on sale on 1st September, cost €5 each, and are sold throughout the autumn and Christmas period.
Key dates and draw times for Lotteria Italia 2025
The estrazione finale for the first‑category prizes will take place on 6th January 2026, Epiphany Day, during a special episode of the TV show Affari Tuoi. On top of the €5 million first‑tier prize, the lottery also offers second‑ and third‑tier prizes, with the total amountsbased on how many tickets are sold in that edition.
Taxes and legal rules in the Italian Lottery
In Italy, the tax treatment of winnings depends on the specific game. Many games, such as Lotto, 10eLotto and Gratta e Vinci, are taxed at source. This means a percentage is withheld before you’re paid, and what you receive is lower than the nominal “gross” prize. However, Lotteria Italia is different: the prizes are not subject to additional tax for the winner, so the amount advertised for each prize tier is exactly what you receive, with no extra deductions.
Can foreigners play Lotteria Italia?
Tourists can buy tickets at authorised outlets just like locals, and if they win, they are entitled to claim, subject to the same deadlines and ID checks. Expats with residency in Italy are in an even simpler position, since they can usually access online platforms and receive payments into an Italian bank account, which reduces the logistical faff if they win something significant.
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