The number of people from Essex that have become millionaires through Premium Bonds has been revealed.

Premium Bonds are an investment product from National Savings and Investments (NS&I) where people can enter a monthly draw to win tax-free prizes.

NS&I drew its first £1 million jackpot winner back in April 1994 and by the time it reached the 30th anniversary of that occasion in April 2024, 528 had been drawn.

The youngest winner of the jackpot prize was just three years old at the time, and the oldest winner to date was 98.

How many people from Essex have won £1 million from Premium Bonds?

An analysis from Money Week has broken down the £1 million jackpot winners from Premium Bonds by area, with Essex having 23 people winning that sum.

This makes it the joint second luckiest area in the UK for Premium Bonds winners, alongside Kent.

Only Surrey beat it out, with the county having managed an incredible 29 since April 1994.

The current odds of winning the jackpot are the best they've been in more than 15 years, at 21,000 to 1.

Since August 2014 two £1 million jackpot prizes have been drawn per month which certainly helps that figure.

How are Premium Bonds winners decided?

According to the NS&I website, they use a system called ERNIE (Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment) to decide the winners.

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It is "powered by quantum technology, which uses light" which helps it produce enough random numbers for a monthly prize draw in around 20 minutes.

The website adds: "Using light, ERNIE 5 generates random numbers that are matched against eligible Bond numbers to determine the lucky winners.

"And because it’s random, every Bond number, whether it has 8, 9, 10 or 11 digits, has a separate and equal chance of winning a prize."