This year, Easter falls between 19 April and 22 April, but the Easter eggs have been piling up at local supermarkets for weeks now. Here at Finder, we decided to conduct a survey to find out how much Brits expect to spend on chocolate, gifts and entertaining over the four-day weekend. And if you’re still looking for Easter treats, take a look at our gift guide for great ideas on chocolate eggs and gifts for this Easter.
Easter spending statistics
Our research revealed that 7 in 10 Brits (69%) plan to spend specifically for Easter over the long weekend. This is a rise of 17% from our 2018 research, when 59% of Brits said they would fork out over Easter. Alternatively, 9% of Brits say they will celebrate Easter without spending anything. This takes the total number of Brits celebrating Easter up to 41 million (78%).
2019
2018
Percentage of Brits celebrating Easter
78%
70%
Percentage of Brits planning to spend
69%
59%
Population that is spending
35,896,291
30,917,973
Average spend
£30.14
£24.41
Overall spend
£1,081,914,200
£754,707,720
Those who plan to part with their money will pay £30.14 on average, which is higher than last year’s average of £24.41. This year’s average overall spend is estimated to be £1.1 billion, an extra £330 million more than 2018, when spending was predicted to be £755 million.
Easter spending across the UK
The North East of England tops the other UK regions, with shoppers here expecting to part with £44.97 on average. Those in the West Midlands propose to spend the least: an average of £25.57. Wales has the highest proportion of people spending for Easter (74%), followed by the North East (73%) and Yorkshire and the Humber residents (73%). East Midland residents were the least likely to spend on Easter, with only 61% of residents saying they would pay out for Easter gifts.
We found that women are more likely to spend their cash this Easter, with nearly three quarters (73%) saying that they are planning to spend, compared to 64% of men. However, on average, men will shell out £30.61, a slightly higher amount than women, who expect to rack up an average spend of £29.74 over Easter.
Those aged 45-54 are the least cost-conscious generation. They plan to spend £32.25 on average, while those aged 18-24 expect to spend £25.28, which is the lowest amount.
Age
Percentage of people spending
Average predicted Easter spend
18-24
73.89%
£25.28
25-34
74.06%
£31.06
35-44
70.90%
£31.96
45-54
69.35%
£32.25
55+
63.13%
£29.28
“It’s easy to miss your budget over the Easter weekend, what with the high mark-up on Easter eggs, seasonal temptations and gifts. However, it doesn’t have to be an expensive weekend. Shopping around for the best deals, using discount codes and making your own treats are great ways to save money.”
– Jon Ostler, CEO of Finder UK
How many of us are planning to travel just outside of Easter to save money?
We found that there are an estimated 2.5 million Brits who are planning to travel either before or after Easter to save money. This is 16.39% of those planning a holiday for Easter (estimated at just under 15 million people).
Roughly 1 in 2 people (48.19%) travelling for Easter plan to do it during Easter. The remaining 35.42% are travelling just outside of Easter, but not to save money.
Easter travel demographics
Both genders are almost equally as likely to travel just before or after Easter to save money (16.18% of women and 16.62% of men). Both millennials (18.89%) and gen X (18.08%) are more likely to opt for the cheaper option than baby boomers (12.07%). Of all the regions, Scots are the most likely (1 in 4 travellers) to save money by travelling outside of instead of during Easter.
Where are we planning to travel?
Of the Brits who said they would be travelling for Easter, 35.97% of travellers said that their destination will be somewhere within the UK. Outside of the UK’s borders, France appears to be the most popular destination with 8.47% of travellers planning a French getaway over Easter, followed by Spain at 6.94%.
Other popular European countries include Italy (3.75%), Portugal (2.64%), Cyprus (2.50%) and Poland (2.36%). Over 1 in 4 travellers (27.50%) are still undecided as to where they will be travelling to and 6.39% say they will be travelling outside of Europe.
Baby boomers (40.52%) are more likely to be travelling within the UK than millennials (34.10%) and gen X (33.58%). In terms of the most popular European destination (France), millennials (11.06%) are twice more likely than baby boomers (5.17%) to choose it as a destination this Easter, with gen X falling in between at 9.23%.
Methodology
Finder commissioned Onepoll to carry out a nationally representative survey of adults aged 18+. A total of 2,000 people were questioned throughout Great Britain, with representative quotas for gender, age and region.
For all media enquiries, please contact
Matt Mckenna UK Communications Manager T: +44 20 3828 1338
Our research found that an estimated £381 million will be spent on Easter eggs this year; this is £154 million more than if consumers bought the same amount of chocolate but in bar form (£227 million). Read more…
Georgia-Rose is a publisher at Finder.com and specialises in all things shopping and travel. She has years of experience working in retail and tourism and as an avid budget traveller, she loves helping people find the best deals on everything from plane tickets to sunglasses.
When she's not jetting off somewhere new you'll find her watching cake videos or befriending stray cats.
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