Christmas spending ‘unaffected’ by cost-of-living in half of UK homes

The research, based on a sample of 1,003 respondents, said the proportion of consumers saying they would not adjust Christmas spending in 2024 was up from 43% in 2023 and 35% in 2022.

The average consumer was planning to spend an average of £362 on gifts – up 10% from last year – and £317 on festive food and drink, up nearly 60%, in part reflecting higher costs.

However, 32% expected they will spend less this Christmas, buying fewer presents and finding cheaper food alternatives.

The same proportion intended to take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.

While over half ( 53%) of Brits feel emotionally positive towards the festive season, two thirds ( 69%) say they are negatively impacted by various factors at Christmas.

In the UK, clothes or shoes were the most popular gifts ( 39%), narrowly beating food and drinks ( 37%), gift cards ( 35%) and money ( 35%).

Skincare ( 31%) and books ( 28%) were popular gift items, and 14% of people don’t want to receive any gifts at all.

Tim Potter, managing director for UK/EU and US at Pureprofile, said: “In the UK, we are seeing a loosening of the purse strings with the average household planning to boost their spending and half feeling unaffected by cost-of-living pressures this Christmas.

“But digging deeper into the figures, the British display highly polarised attitudes towards spending and gifting, family gatherings and Christmas preparations. More than one in ten feel negatively towards the festive period, would be perfectly happy receiving no gifts and spending ‘me time’ on the big day.”