It’s estimated there will be 5,771,425 prizes worth £444,399,400 in March 2024.

The prize fund rate will drop from 4.65 per cent to 4.40 per cent, however, the rate is still higher than this time last year.

NS&I increased the prize fund rate from 3.15 per cent in February 2023 to 3.30 per cent a month later.

Andrew Westhead, NS&I Retail Director, said: “These changes reflect our requirement to strike a balance between the interests of our savers, taxpayers and the stability of the broader financial services sector.

“In a dynamic savings market, it’s important that our rates are set at an appropriate position against those of our competitors as we work towards meeting our annual Net Financing target.

“After these changes, the Premium Bonds draw in March is expected to pay out over 5.7 million tax-free prizes totalling more than £444 million to savers across the UK.”

The odds of winning per £1 Bond number is 21,000 to one.

Yesterday, NS&I cut the interest rate offered on Green Savings Bonds as it launched a new Issue of the savings product.