When you’re preparing for Christmas, buying gifts, food, drink, decorations, and maybe sorting out travel arrangements too, the costs can soon mount up. We surveyed people across the UK to see how much they thought they would Spend on the festivities this year; and, to find out if where they live makes a difference.

The group of people expecting to have more of an expensive Christmas than anyone else this year are those aged 35-54 years. Those we surveyed in Scotland, on average, are expecting to spend less than they did last year, whereas Londoners said they were likely to spend more.

The survey shows that there isn’t much difference between the amount of money that men and women expect to spend on Christmas this year, with the average spend for men being £555; and £570 for women.

70% of people across the UK expected to spend the biggest chunk of their money on gifts for other people, but 22% of people said that their biggest Christmas expense was likely to be food and drink. 86% of those living in Liverpool & Belfast expect most of their spending to be on presents, whereas 37% of London residents expect to spend more elsewhere on their celebrations, such as on food, drink, travel, parties and decorations.

Our survey shows that only 56% of people across the UK expect that they will pay for Christmas through their salary. People living in the South West of England are the most likely to pay for the celebrations using their credit card, and those in the North East are the most likely to get the money they spend on Christmas from their savings. People from Sheffield, London and Newcastle are the most likely to use an overdraft to pay for the festive season.

Note: 2,004 UK adults were surveyed in November 2017, weighted to reflect a nationally representative audience. All figures used are averages.

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