Camelot has announced a fall in sales for the first half of its financial year to £3.389bn, compared with £3.615bn in the same period last year.

During the period, Camelot generated returns for National Lottery Good Causes of £783m and awarded £1,928m in prizes.

Camelot CEO Andy Duncan said: “Despite the challenges we’ve faced over the last six months, our performance over the half-year still represents one of our best since The National Lottery’s launch in 1994 – and returning over £2.7bn to Good Causes and players in just six months is no small achievement.

“With the current climate of economic uncertainty and signs that consumers are being more cautious with their spending, we expect the next six months to be similarly challenging.

“We’re also seeing no let-up in the direct, often aggressive, competition we’re facing from the wider gambling sector – especially from bet-on-lottery firms purporting to offer the same products as The National Lottery – and from large ‘umbrella-style’ society lotteries.

“But, with some great plans lined up, there’s still all to play for in the second half of the year – and we’ll be doing everything we can to deliver even more for our players and for the millions of people for whom National Lottery funding is so vital.”