The prize pot has diminished recently, in line with the Bank of England's lending rate.
Premium Bonds payouts have been hit hard by recent interest rate reductions from the Bank of England, it has emerged.
Figures from National Savings & Investments (NS&I), the government-backed firm which runs the prize draws, show that there were just 19 winners of the £25,000 grand prize in November. In December 2007, there were 78.
Meanwhile, the total prize pot has also shrunk in size, going from £119 million last December to just £89 million last month, with the prize fund percentage from NS&I falling along with the Bank's base lending rate.
Indeed, the Bank has pursued an unusually aggressive rate-cutting strategy over recent months, as inflation concerns ease and the likelihood of the UK going through a severe recession increases. The lending rate has gone from five percent to three percent since September - and polls of experts suggest that another 50 basis point reduction could be on the cards at the Bank's monthly rate-setting meeting later in the week.
"The number of prizes in each monthly prize draw has a direct link to the current prize fund rate," an NS&I spokesperson told the BBC.
Premium bonds, introduced in 1956, are currently held by around 23 million Britons - over a third of the population.
