World Darts Championship Final Averages by Year, 1978–2026
Champion's and runner-up's three-dart average in every men's World Championship final since 1978, 80 finals across the BDO, PDC and WDF, with the score.
This table covers all 80 men’s World Darts Championship finals from 1978 to 2026: 43 BDO finals, 33 PDC finals since the 1993 split, and the 4 WDF finals that followed the BDO’s collapse. Each row gives both finalists’ three-dart average in the final, the score, and the total prize fund where the source records it. The highest average ever recorded in a final is Phil Taylor’s 110.94 in the 2009 PDC final.
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PDC Winning Averages Rose About 1.8 Points a Decade
A straight line fitted through the PDC champion's average in each final from 1994 to 2026 rises +1.78 points per decade and explains 13% of the year-to-year variation. The first PDC champion averaged 94.38; the latest averaged 106.02. Splitting the PDC finals at 2010 gives a mean champion's average of 99.37 for 16 finals in 1994–2009 and 101.72 for 17 finals in 2010–2026, a difference of +2.35. 18 of the 33 PDC finals were won with a 100-plus average, the first by Phil Taylor in 1997.
Over the 27 years from 1994 to 2020 when both bodies held a championship, the PDC champion averaged 100.28 and the BDO champion 92.50: a gap of 7.78 points, calculated as the difference of the two means. The PDC winner's average was the higher of the two in 25 of those 27 years. The BDO series shows no comparable climb: its first champion averaged 92.40 in 1978 and its last 93.72 in 2020.
The higher average does not always win. In 14 of the 80 finals the runner-up out-averaged the champion. The lowest winning average is John Part's 82.44 in the 1994 BDO final. Phil Taylor won the most finals in the table, 16, across both bodies.
Champion's Final Average by Year
One point per final, one line per governing body; the dashed line is the least-squares trend through the PDC finals only (+1.78 per decade, r² 0.13). Hover a point for the value.
Every World Championship Final, 1978–2026
| Body▼ | Year▼ | Champion▼ | Champion Avg▼ | Score▼ | Runner-Up▼ | Runner-Up Avg▼ | Prize Fund (£)▼ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BDO | 1978 | Leighton Rees | 92.40 | 11 – 7 legs | John Lowe | 89.40 | 10,500 |
| BDO | 1979 | John Lowe | 87.42 | 5 – 0 sets | Leighton Rees | 76.62 | 15,000 |
| BDO | 1980 | Eric Bristow | 88.10 | 5 – 3 | Bobby George | 86.49 | 15,000 |
| BDO | 1981 | Eric Bristow | 86.10 | 5 – 3 | John Lowe | 81.00 | 23,300 |
| BDO | 1982 | Jocky Wilson | 88.10 | 5 – 3 | John Lowe | 84.30 | 28,000 |
| BDO | 1983 | Keith Deller | 90.00 | 6 – 5 | Eric Bristow | 93.90 | 33,050 |
| BDO | 1984 | Eric Bristow | 97.50 | 7 – 1 | Dave Whitcombe | 90.60 | 38,500 |
| BDO | 1985 | Eric Bristow | 97.50 | 6 – 2 | John Lowe | 93.12 | 43,000 |
| BDO | 1986 | Eric Bristow | 94.47 | 6 – 0 | Dave Whitcombe | 90.45 | 52,500 |
| BDO | 1987 | John Lowe | 90.63 | 6 – 4 | Eric Bristow | 94.29 | 60,300 |
| BDO | 1988 | Bob Anderson | 92.70 | 6 – 4 | John Lowe | 92.07 | 71,600 |
| BDO | 1989 | Jocky Wilson | 94.32 | 6 – 4 | Eric Bristow | 90.66 | 86,900 |
| BDO | 1990 | Phil Taylor | 97.47 | 6 – 1 | Eric Bristow | 93.00 | 153,200 |
| BDO | 1991 | Dennis Priestley | 92.57 | 6 – 0 | Eric Bristow | 84.15 | 110,500 |
| BDO | 1992 | Phil Taylor | 97.58 | 6 – 5 | Mike Gregory | 94.42 | 119,500 |
| BDO | 1993 | John Lowe | 83.97 | 6 – 3 | Alan Warriner | 82.32 | 128,500 |
| BDO | 1994 | John Part | 82.44 | 6 – 0 | Bobby George | 80.31 | 136,100 |
| PDC | 1994 | Dennis Priestley | 94.38 | 6–1 | Phil Taylor | 85.62 | 64,000 |
| BDO | 1995 | Richie Burnett | 93.63 | 6 – 3 | Raymond van Barneveld | 91.23 | 143,000 |
| PDC | 1995 | Phil Taylor | 94.11 | 6–2 | Rod Harrington | 87.15 | 55,000 |
| BDO | 1996 | Steve Beaton | 90.27 | 6 – 3 | Richie Burnett | 88.05 | 150,000 |
| PDC | 1996 | Phil Taylor | 98.52 | 6–4 | Dennis Priestley | 101.48 | 62,500 |
| BDO | 1997 | Les Wallace | 92.19 | 6 – 3 | Marshall James | 92.01 | 158,000 |
| PDC | 1997 | Phil Taylor | 100.92 | 6–3 | Dennis Priestley | 96.78 | 99,500 |
| BDO | 1998 | Raymond van Barneveld | 93.96 | 6 – 5 | Richie Burnett | 97.14 | 166,000 |
| PDC | 1998 | Phil Taylor | 103.98 | 6–0 | Dennis Priestley | 90.75 | 72,500 |
| BDO | 1999 | Raymond van Barneveld | 94.35 | 6 – 5 | Ronnie Baxter | 94.65 | 174,000 |
| PDC | 1999 | Phil Taylor | 97.11 | 6–2 | Peter Manley | 93.63 | 104,000 |
| BDO | 2000 | Ted Hankey | 92.40 | 6 – 0 | Ronnie Baxter | 88.35 | 182,000 |
| PDC | 2000 | Phil Taylor | 94.42 | 7–3 | Dennis Priestley | 91.80 | 111,000 |
| BDO | 2001 | John Walton | 95.55 | 6 – 2 | Ted Hankey | 94.86 | 189,000 |
| PDC | 2001 | Phil Taylor | 107.46 | 7–0 | John Part | 92.58 | 125,000 |
| BDO | 2002 | Tony David | 93.57 | 6 – 4 | Mervyn King | 89.67 | 197,000 |
| PDC | 2002 | Phil Taylor | 98.47 | 7–0 | Peter Manley | 91.35 | 205,000 |
| BDO | 2003 | Raymond van Barneveld | 94.86 | 6 – 3 | Ritchie Davies | 90.66 | 205,000 |
| PDC | 2003 | John Part | 96.87 | 7–6 | Phil Taylor | 99.98 | 237,000 |
| BDO | 2004 | Andy Fordham | 97.08 | 6 – 3 | Mervyn King | 91.02 | 201,000 |
| PDC | 2004 | Phil Taylor | 96.03 | 7–6 | Kevin Painter | 90.48 | 257,000 |
| BDO | 2005 | Raymond van Barneveld | 96.78 | 6 – 2 | Martin Adams | 91.35 | 201,000 |
| PDC | 2005 | Phil Taylor | 96.14 | 7–4 | Mark Dudbridge | 90.66 | 300,000 |
| BDO | 2006 | Jelle Klaasen | 90.42 | 7 – 5 | Raymond van Barneveld | 93.06 | 211,000 |
| PDC | 2006 | Phil Taylor | 106.74 | 7–0 | Peter Manley | 91.72 | 500,000 |
| BDO | 2007 | Martin Adams | 90.30 | 7 – 6 | Phill Nixon | 87.09 | 226,000 |
| PDC | 2007 | Raymond van Barneveld | 100.93 | 7–6 | Phil Taylor | 100.86 | — |
| BDO | 2008 | Mark Webster | 92.07 | 7 – 5 | Simon Whitlock | 93.92 | 246,000 |
| PDC | 2008 | John Part | 92.86 | 7–2 | Kirk Shepherd | 85.10 | 589,000 |
| BDO | 2009 | Ted Hankey | 91.46 | 7 – 6 | Tony O'Shea | 90.54 | 256,000 |
| PDC | 2009 | Phil Taylor | 110.94 | 7–1 | Raymond van Barneveld | 101.18 | 724,000 |
| BDO | 2010 | Martin Adams | 95.01 | 7 – 5 | Dave Chisnall | 93.42 | 261,000 |
| PDC | 2010 | Phil Taylor | 104.38 | 7–3 | Simon Whitlock | 100.51 | 1,000,000 |
| BDO | 2011 | Martin Adams | 92.13 | 7 – 5 | Dean Winstanley | 89.08 | 261,000 |
| PDC | 2011 | Adrian Lewis | 99.40 | 7–5 | Gary Anderson | 99.41 | — |
| BDO | 2012 | Christian Kist | 90.00 | 7 – 5 | Tony O'Shea | 87.78 | 258,000 |
| PDC | 2012 | Adrian Lewis | 93.06 | 7–3 | Andy Hamilton | 90.83 | — |
| BDO | 2013 | Scott Waites | 86.43 | 7 – 1 | Tony O'Shea | 81.90 | 261,000 |
| PDC | 2013 | Phil Taylor | 103.04 | 7–4 | Michael van Gerwen | 100.66 | — |
| BDO | 2014 | Stephen Bunting | 96.18 | 7 – 4 | Alan Norris | 92.19 | 300,000 |
| PDC | 2014 | Michael van Gerwen | 100.10 | 7–4 | Peter Wright | 95.71 | 1,050,000 |
| BDO | 2015 | Scott Mitchell | 92.61 | 7 – 6 | Martin Adams | 92.55 | 300,000 |
| PDC | 2015 | Gary Anderson | 97.68 | 7–6 | Phil Taylor | 100.69 | 1,250,000 |
| BDO | 2016 | Scott Waites | 87.54 | 7 – 1 | Jeff Smith | 84.99 | 300,000 |
| PDC | 2016 | Gary Anderson | 99.26 | 7–5 | Adrian Lewis | 100.23 | 1,500,000 |
| BDO | 2017 | Glen Durrant | 93.48 | 7 – 3 | Danny Noppert | 93.30 | 300,000 |
| PDC | 2017 | Michael van Gerwen | 108.06 | 7–3 | Gary Anderson | 104.93 | 1,650,000 |
| BDO | 2018 | Glen Durrant | 93.97 | 7 – 6 | Mark McGeeney | 86.31 | 300,000 |
| PDC | 2018 | Rob Cross | 107.67 | 7–2 | Phil Taylor | 102.26 | 1,800,000 |
| BDO | 2019 | Glen Durrant | 95.19 | 7 – 3 | Scott Waites | 91.38 | 300,000 |
| PDC | 2019 | Michael van Gerwen | 102.21 | 7–3 | Michael Smith | 95.29 | 2,500,000 |
| BDO | 2020 | Wayne Warren | 93.72 | 7 – 4 | Jim Williams | 94.53 | 127,000 |
| PDC | 2020 | Peter Wright | 102.79 | 7–3 | Michael van Gerwen | 102.88 | — |
| PDC | 2021 | Gerwyn Price | 100.08 | 7–3 | Gary Anderson | 94.25 | — |
| PDC | 2022 | Peter Wright | 98.34 | 7–5 | Michael Smith | 99.22 | — |
| WDF | 2022 | Neil Duff | 87.73 | 6 – 5 | Thibault Tricole | 86.95 | 200,000 |
| PDC | 2023 | Michael Smith | 100.71 | 7–4 | Michael van Gerwen | 99.58 | — |
| WDF | 2023 | Andy Baetens | 93.69 | 6 – 1 | Chris Landman | 86.47 | 170,000 |
| PDC | 2024 | Luke Humphries | 103.67 | 7–4 | Luke Littler | 101.13 | — |
| WDF | 2024 | Shane McGuirk | 90.31 | 6 – 3 | Paul Lim | 83.76 | 130,000 |
| PDC | 2025 | Luke Littler | 102.73 | 7–3 | Michael van Gerwen | 100.69 | — |
| WDF | 2025 | Jimmy van Schie | 93.21 | 6 – 3 | Mitchell Lawrie | 93.18 | 146,000 |
| PDC | 2026 | Luke Littler | 106.02 | 7–1 | Gian van Veen | 99.94 | 5,000,000 |
Averages are three-dart averages in the final. The score is in sets except where the source states legs (1978). A dash in prize money means the source table carries no figure for that year, not a zero.
Download the full table (CSV) · 80 rows
How the Numbers Were Made
Source and counting. The rows are the finals tables in Wikipedia's BDO, WDF and PDC World Darts Championship articles, retrieved 2026-09-13. Averages printed inside the finalist cells were split out; title-count suffixes on BDO names were dropped; reference markers were stripped. Rows are sorted by year, then body. No final was invented for 2021: the BDO folded in January 2021 and the WDF championship began in 2022.
The finding. The trend is an ordinary least-squares line of the PDC champion's average on year across all 33 PDC finals. The era split compares the mean champion's average before and from 2010. The PDC-BDO gap is the mean PDC champion's average minus the mean BDO champion's average over the 27 years both held a final.
Gaps. 10 PDC finals have no prize fund because the Wikipedia table carries none for those years; the fund did not stop growing, it is simply unrecorded here, so no prize-money series is drawn. Score units are sets from 1980 on but the source only states the unit for the first two finals. Player names are as Wikipedia prints them.
Licence. The table figures were read from Wikipedia finals tables, which Wikipedia publishes under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Wikipedia is credited in the sources list, along with the official body whose results the Wikipedia editors cite. Reuse of this table carries the same CC BY-SA 4.0 terms.
Sources
- BDO World Darts Championship, finals tablesecondaryWikipedia · secondary · retrieved 2026-09-13 · CC BY-SA 4.0 — 43 finals, 1978–2020
- WDF World Darts Championship, men's finals tablesecondaryWikipedia · secondary · retrieved 2026-09-13 · CC BY-SA 4.0 — 4 finals, 2022–2025
- PDC World Darts Championship, finals tablesecondaryWikipedia · secondary · retrieved 2026-09-13 · CC BY-SA 4.0 — 33 finals, 1994–2026
- Professional Darts Corporation, official siteprimaryPDC · primary · retrieved 2026-09-13 · Official results; facts not copyrightable — Official PDC results, cited by the Wikipedia PDC finals table
- World Darts Federation, official siteprimaryWDF · primary · retrieved 2026-09-13 · Official results; facts not copyrightable — Official WDF results, cited by the Wikipedia WDF finals table