Here, Flashscore looks back at every world champion from the BDO's beginnings in 1978 to the modern PDC era.
The PDC and BDO split
The PDC World Darts Championship traces its origins to 1994, created under the banner of the breakaway World Darts Council after leading professionals split from the BDO.
The dispute was resolved in 1997, when the WDC rebranded as the PDC and players were permitted to choose which world championship to enter, provided they met the relevant qualification rules.
For more than two decades, the two organisations staged separate flagship tournaments. That parallel structure ended after the 2020 season, when the BDO collapsed, and the PDC title became the sport's sole recognised world crown.
Read more: All you need to know about the PDC World Championship 2026: Is it Littler's to lose?
Modern PDC greats
The modern PDC era has produced its own clusters of dominance. Michael van Gerwen's three titles, won in 2014, 2017 and 2019, defined the decade's technical peak, marked by some of the highest sustained averages ever recorded on the world stage.
Gary Anderson, Adrian Lewis and Peter Wright each claimed two PDC titles, shaping a period where depth rose sharply and championship-level consistency became harder to sustain.
The past two years have shifted the landscape again. Luke Humphries' 2024 triumph delivered on years of statistical promise, while Luke Littler's 2025 victory at 17 signalled a genuine recalibration.
Littler's surge across that season, highlighted by significant jumps in scoring power, checkout efficiency and performance under late-stage pressure, positioned him as a historically rare outlier. His title defence this winter will be scrutinised more closely than any campaign in recent memory.
Below is the complete chronological list of world champions across both eras.
Read more: How much will players earn at the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship?
PDC World Champions (1994-present)
1994 Dennis Priestley
1995 Phil Taylor
1996 Phil Taylor
1997 Phil Taylor
1998 Phil Taylor
1999 Phil Taylor
2000 Phil Taylor
2001 Phil Taylor
2002 Phil Taylor
2003 John Part
2004 Phil Taylor
2005 Phil Taylor
2006 Phil Taylor
2007 Raymond van Barneveld
2008 John Part
2009 Phil Taylor
2010 Phil Taylor
2011 Adrian Lewis
2012 Adrian Lewis
2013 Phil Taylor
2014 Michael van Gerwen
2015 Gary Anderson
2016 Gary Anderson
2017 Michael van Gerwen
2018 Rob Cross
2019 Michael van Gerwen
2020 Peter Wright
2021 Gerwyn Price
2022 Peter Wright
2023 Michael Smith
2024 Luke Humphries
2025 Luke Littler
BDO World Champions (1978-2020)
1978 Leighton Rees
1979 John Lowe
1980 Eric Bristow
1981 Eric Bristow
1982 Jocky Wilson
1983 Keith Deller
1984 Eric Bristow
1985 Eric Bristow
1986 Eric Bristow
1987 John Lowe
1988 Bob Anderson
1989 Jocky Wilson
1990 Phil Taylor
1991 Dennis Priestley
1992 Phil Taylor
1993 John Lowe
1994 John Part
1995 Richie Burnett
1996 Steve Beaton
1997 Les Wallace
1998 Raymond van Barneveld
1999 Raymond van Barneveld
2000 Ted Hankey
2001 John Walton
2002 Tony David
2003 Raymond van Barneveld
2004 Andy Fordham
2005 Raymond van Barneveld
2006 Jelle Klaasen
2007 Martin Adams
2008 Mark Webster
2009 Ted Hankey
2010 Martin Adams
2011 Martin Adams
2012 Christian Kist
2013 Scott Waites
2014 Stephen Bunting
2015 Scott Mitchell
2016 Scott Waites
2017 Glen Durrant
2018 Glen Durrant
2019 Glen Durrant
2020 Wayne Warren