The new year has begun with life-changing fortunes for two savers, as National Savings and Investments (NS&I) announces its first Premium Bonds millionaires of 2026. In the January prize draw, two bond holders from Suffolk and Berkshire each landed the coveted £1 million tax-free jackpot, kicking off the year on an extraordinary high.
Meet the January 2026 Millionaires
The first of this month's top prizes was awarded to a resident of Suffolk. The winning bond, numbered 570QM451332, was purchased relatively recently in February 2024. The holder, who had the maximum £50,000 invested, becomes the 11th jackpot winner from Suffolk since the draws began.
The second £1 million prize goes to a saver in Berkshire. Their winning bond number is 377PG290829. Unlike the first winner, this individual has held a £50,000 stake since December 2019. This victory marks them as the fifth person from Berkshire to secure the seven-figure sum.
A Multi-Million Pound Prize Pool for Savers
While the two jackpot winners are the headline story, they are far from alone in their celebrations. The January draw, conducted by the famous random number generator ERNIE, distributed a colossal £406,932,450 in tax-free prizes. This huge sum was shared across 6,165,643 winning bonds.
Andrew Westhead, NS&I Retail Director, commented: "We're delighted to kick off 2026 by creating our first Premium Bonds millionaires of the year. The jackpot winners aren't the only ones celebrating. This month, ERNIE drew more than six million tax-free prizes, bringing a happy new year to savers across the country."
Holders can check if they have won a prize from Saturday, 3 January using the official NS&I prize checker app. The draw included a staggering 135,644,148,620 eligible £1 bonds.
Full Breakdown of January 2026 Prizes
The complete prize list for the January draw is as follows:
- £1,000,000: 2 prizes
- £100,000: 77 prizes
- £50,000: 156 prizes
- £25,000: 309 prizes
- £10,000: 773 prizes
- £5,000: 1,548 prizes
- £1,000: 16,276 prizes
- £500: 48,828 prizes
- £100: 1,731,056 prizes
- £50: 1,731,056 prizes
- £25: 2,635,562 prizes
Total prize value: £406,932,450 from 6,165,674 prizes.
Are Premium Bonds a Good Investment in 2026?
With the allure of becoming a tax-free millionaire, many savers ponder whether Premium Bonds are a shrewd financial move. The government-backed product allows investments from £25 up to £50,000, with each £1 bond offering a 22,000-to-one chance of winning a prize each month.
Personal finance expert Martin Lewis has provided a detailed analysis. He explains that the current prize fund rate is 3.6%, but this is a mean average across all bonds. The critical figure for most people is the median average—what the person with typical luck wins.
"Someone with typical luck will always win less than the mean average," Lewis states. "What affects the amount you win, generally, is the amount you've got in. The more you have in the closer you will get to the mean average."
He estimates that a saver with a significant holding, like £60,000, could expect a return of around 3.2% to 3.3% with typical luck. When compared to the best easy-access savings accounts, which may offer over 4.5%, this seems less competitive.
However, the tax-free status of all prizes can be a decisive advantage. Lewis notes that for basic or higher-rate taxpayers who have already used their Personal Savings Allowance (£1,000 or £500 respectively) and maxed out their annual Cash ISA allowance, Premium Bonds can become an attractive option. For them, a tax-free 3.2% return can effectively beat a taxable rate from a standard savings account.
Since the first draw in June 1957, NS&I has awarded over 809 million prizes with a total value exceeding £39.5 billion, cementing its place in the UK's savings landscape.
