Easter statistics UK 2021

Easter spending across the UK

Residents in London plan to spend the most, with the average spend being £35. Residents in Northern Ireland are most likely to be spending over Easter, with 86% of the population planning to spend. At the other end of the spectrum, Scotland’s residents plan to spend the least, at £16 on average. They’re also the least likely to spend (46%).

• Percentage spending over Easter by generation
• Table

• Easter 2020 spending statistics

  On this page

  • Easter spending statistics
  • Easter spending trends
  • Regional differences

  • Gender differences
  • Generational differences
  • Easter 2018 and 2019 research

  This year, Easter falls between 10 April and 13 April, but the Easter eggs have been piling up at local supermarkets for weeks now. Here at Finder, we conducted our annual 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 almost three-quarters of Brits (73%) plan to celebrate Easter this year, which is equivalent to 38.3 million people. More than three-fifths (62%) plan on spending over the long weekend, meaning the total number of Brits that are planning to spend is 32.6 million. Alternatively, 11% of Brits say they will celebrate Easter without spending anything. Those who plan to part with their money will pay £27.66 on average, meaning this year’s average overall spend is estimated to be £902 million.

  Easter spending trends

  It seems when comparing this year’s data to last year’s (2019) that fewer people intend to celebrate and spend on Easter 2020. This could be due to the social distancing measures and financial implications caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The number of those who are planning to celebrate is down by 6% compared to 2019 (78%), while those who intend to spend is down by 11% since 2019 (69%). Similarly, the average individual spend has decreased by £2.48 from 2019’s £30.14, meaning that the overall spend on Easter is down by £198 million (£1.1 billion).

  Easter festivities	2018	2019	2020
  Average spend	£24.41	£30.14	£27.66
  Percentage of Brits celebrating Easter	70%	78%	73%
  Percentage of Brits planning to spend	59%	69%	62%
  Population that is spending	30,917,973	35,896,291	32,621,082
  Overall spend	£754,707,720.00	£1,081,914,200.00	£902,299,118.00

  Easter spending across the UK

  The North East of England tops the other UK regions, with shoppers there expecting to part with £39.47 on average. Additionally this region has the highest proportion of residents who plan to spend on Easter this year (73%). Those in the South West of England propose to spend the least, an average of £22.78. Northern Ireland’s residents are the least likely to spend on Easter, with only 57% of residents saying they plan to pay out for Easter gifts.

  • Average regional spend
  • Table

  Region	Average spend	Percentage of each region's residents who are planning to spend
  East of England	£25.02	61%
  East Midlands	£23.06	59%
  London	£36.60	61%
  North East	£39.47	73%
  North West	£25.54	57%
  Northern Ireland	£33.44	57%
  Scotland	£23.23	59%
  South East	£29.62	67%
  South West	£22.78	59%
  Wales	£25.39	68%
  West Midlands	£27.85	66%
  Yorshire and the Humber	£24.57	63%

  Gender differences in Easter spending

  We found that women are more likely to spend their cash this Easter, with nearly two-thirds (65%) saying that they are planning to spend, compared to only three-fifths (59%) of men. However, on average, men will shell out £29.83, a slightly higher amount than women, who expect to rack up an average spend of £25.77 over Easter.

  • Average spend
  • Table

  Gender	Average spend	Percentage of each gender planning to spend
  Female	£25.77	65%
  Male	£29.83	59%

  Generational differences in Easter spending

  Millennials are the least cost-conscious generation and they plan to spend £32.41 on average. Generation Z expect to spend £20.77, which is the lowest amount. Similarly, almost three-quarters of millennials (73%) plan to spend, this is the highest proportion of spenders across all generations. At the other end of the scale are baby boomers, with just over half (54%) of this generation intending to spend on Easter 2020.

  Generation	Average spend	Percentage of each generation planning to spend
  Postmillennial/Generation Z (Born after 1996)	£20.77	69%
  Millennials (Born 1981-1996)	£32.41	73%
  Generation X (Born 1965-1980)	£29.39	61%
  Boomers (Born 1946-1964)	£23.40	54%
  Silent (Born 1928-1945)	£23.19	55%

  Methodology

  • Finder commissioned Onepoll in March 2020 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.

• Easter 2018 and 2019 spending and travel statistics

  Easter spending statistics

  Our research revealed that 7 in 10 Brits (69%) planned to spend specifically for Easter over the long weekend. This was a rise of 17% from our 2018 research, when 59% of Brits said they would fork out over Easter. Alternatively, 9% of Brits said they would celebrate Easter without spending anything. This took the total number of Brits celebrating Easter up to 41 million (78%).

  Easter festivities	2018	2019
  Average spend	£24.41	£30.14
  Percentage of Brits celebrating Easter	70%	78%
  Percentage of Brits planning to spend	59%	69%
  Population that is spending	30,917,973	35,896,291
  Overall spend	£754,707,720.00	£1,081,914,200.00

  Those who planned to part with their money intended to spend £30.14 on average, which was higher than 2018’s average of £24.41. 2019’s average overall spend was 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 topped the other UK regions, with shoppers there expecting to part with £44.97 on average. Those in the West Midlands proposed to spend the least, an average of £25.57. Wales had the highest proportion of people spending for Easter (74%), followed by the North East (73%) and Yorkshire and the Humber residents (73%). East Midlands residents were the least likely to spend on Easter, with only 61% of residents saying they would pay out for Easter gifts.

  • Average predicted Easter spend
  • Percentage of people spending
  • Average predicted Easter spend per region

  Region	Average spend	Percentage of people spending during Easter
  East of England	£28	66%
  East Midlands	£26	61%
  London	£35	72%
  North East	£45	73%
  North West	£31	65%
  Northern Ireland	£32	66%
  Scotland	£28	67%
  South East	£28	65%
  South West	£30	71%
  Wales	£31	74%
  West Midlands	£26	72%
  Yorshire and the Humber	£29	73%

  Gender differences in Easter spending

  We found that women were more likely to spend their cash to celebrate Easter 2019, with nearly three-quarters (73%) saying that they planned to spend, compared to 64% of men. However, on average, men intended to shell out £30.61, a slightly higher amount than women, who expected to rack up an average spend of £29.74 over Easter.

  • Percentage of people spending
  • Average predicted Easter spend

  Generational differences in Easter spending

  Those aged 45–54 were the least cost-conscious generation. They planned to spend £32.25 on average, while those aged 18–24 expected to spend £25.28, which was 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

  How many of us planned to travel at Easter in 2018?

  We found that an estimated 2.5 million Brits planned to travel either before or after Easter 2018 to save money.

  Roughly half of people (48.19%) travelling for Easter planned to do it over the Easter weekend. The remaining 35.42% planned to travel just outside of Easter, but not for money-saving purposes.

  • Travel plans
  • Table

  Travel plans	Percentage
  Plans to travel before/after Easter to save money	16.39%
  Plans to travel before/after Easter but not to save money	35.42%
  Plans to travel during Easter	48.19%

  How different generations, genders and ages planned to travel

  Both genders were almost as equally 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%) were more likely to opt for the cheaper option than baby boomers (12.07%). Of all the regions, Scots were the most likely (one in four travellers) to save money by travelling outside of instead of during Easter.

  Where were Brits travelling to?

  Of the Brits who said they would be travelling for Easter, 35.97% of travellers said that their destination would be within the UK. Outside of the UK’s borders, France appeared 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 included Italy (3.75%), Portugal (2.64%), Cyprus (2.50%) and Poland (2.36%). At the time of the survey over 1 in 4 travellers (27.50%) were still undecided as to where they would be travelling to and 6.39% say they would be travelling outside of Europe.

  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 8191 8806
  

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