Premium Bonds rate to drop – 24th February 2026

National Savings and Investments (NS&I) has announced that the Premium Bonds prize fund rate will be reduced from 3.6% to 3.30% from the April 2026 draw, while the odds of winning a prize will lengthen from 22,000 to one to 23,000 to one.

The changes follow the last adjustment to the prize fund rate in August 2025. NS&I most recently updated the odds in December 2024.

Andrew Westhead, NS&I’s Retail Director, said the move was intended to reflect conditions across the wider savings market while maintaining “a balance between the interests of savers, taxpayers and the wider financial services sector”.

Premium Bonds remain the UK’s most popular savings product. Having recently passed £40 billion in prizes paid out, NS&I expects the April draw to award nearly six million tax‑free prizes worth around £375 million.

Despite the lower prize fund rate, NS&I still expects two people to win the top £1 million prize. The number of £25 prizes is forecast to rise from around 2.64 million to 2.81 million, although most prize levels in between are expected to fall.

For example, NS&I estimates that:

• £100,000 winners will drop from 78 to 71

• £50,000 winners will fall from 154 to 143

The April change will be the 25th adjustment to the prize fund rate since May 2008. Over that period, the highest rate was 4.65% in September 2023, and the lowest was 1% in both December 2020 and April 2009.

Premium Bonds were launched in 1956 and offer tax‑free prizes instead of interest. More than 22 million people now hold them, with a maximum investment of £50,000. All NS&I products are backed by HM Treasury.