From watching the lights turn on in your local town centre to tucking into a roast dinner, there’s nothing quite like a white Christmas in the UK. Being such a celebrated time of year, 1 in 10 Brits begin their Christmas shopping as early as July. We did some research to find out how much Brits are spending on gifts over this holiday season (2019).
According to our research an average British adult will fork out £512.85 on gifts over the Christmas period. This means that overall the UK is planning to spend £26.9 billion on festive gifts this year. However, 3 in 5 (60%) are planning to reduce spending on presents in a range of ways while 21.70% take out a loan to fund their Christmas shopping.
Setting a price limit with family and friends is the most popular method, with 2 in 5 (39%) intending to do this. 1 in 7 (15%) Brits are giving experience gifts like picnics or massages to reduce costs while 13% of Brits say they will make gifts to cut costs.
| Ways of cutting cost this Christmas | Percent |
|---|---|
| Re-gift | 10% |
| Set a price limit with family and friends | 40% |
| Secret Santa instead of buying gifts for multiple people | 11% |
| Make gifts | 13% |
| Buy second hand gifts | 10% |
| Giving a less expensive or free experience as a gift (e.g, massage, picnic) | 15% |
| Waiting until after Christmas (Boxing Day sales, etc.) to do your Christmas shopping | 9% |
| N/A - I don't plan to cut costs this Christmas | 33% |
| I don't know / N/A - I don't typically buy Christmas presents | 6% |
| Other | 2% |
Men are planning to spend £102.73 more on presents than women (£566.02 vs £463.29). It is likely that women are spending less because two-thirds (67%) are planning to cut costs. This is substantially more than the number of men (54%) that intend to reduce their spending on gifts.
| Women | Men | |
|---|---|---|
| Percent who aims to cut costs | 67% | 54% |
| Average spend on gifts | £463.29 | £566.02 |
Generation X (those born 1965–1980) is planning to spend £636 on average on festive gifts. This is higher than any other generation. At the other end of the scale is generation Z (those born after 1996), which intends to part with £212.16 each.
Gen Z is planning to be the most savvy with money over Christmas, with over three-quarters (77%) saying they plan to cut costs on presents. On the other hand, only around a third (30%) of the silent generation (those born 1928–1945) are planning to reduce how much they spend on gifts.
| Generation | Average spend |
|---|---|
| Postmillennial (Born after 1996) | £212.16 |
| Millennials (1981-1996) | £538.86 |
| Generation X (1965-1980) | £636 |
| Boomers (1946-1964) | £453.06 |
| Silent (1928-1945) | £495.66 |
– Jon Ostler, UK CEO at finder.com
A total of 2,000 people were questioned throughout Great Britain, with representative quotas for gender, age and region.
Jon Ostler, CEO (UK) at finder.com is available for further comment, opinions or interview regarding the research.
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