It won’t be long until we’re debating the latest John Lewis Christmas ad and belting out Fairytale of New York in the car. Yes, Christmas is around the corner and it’s time to start our shopping.
We decided to poll the public and find out what Britain really wants from Santa for Christmas 2023. Here’s what we found.
The Fast Facts
If you want to be wrapped up as quickly as Santa does a house call, then here are our fast facts - the most important bits of information we got from our research. You’ll find more statistics and context within:
- Cash is king - almost 1 in 3 Brits would like to receive cash for Christmas this year making it a more popular gift choice than anything else
- The over 55s are the only age group for which cash isn’t the most popular choice of Christmas gift
- Almost a quarter of the population would like to receive clothing or footwear this Christmas
- Books are still popular - with more than 1 in 8 adults making a book a top 3 pick on their letter to Santa
- The average Brit will spend around £300 on gifts
- 11% of Brits admit to selling their unwanted gifts
- But, 23% of (very polite) Brits say they keep gifts they don’t want anyway
What does the UK want for Christmas?
We polled 2,001 adults in the UK in September 2023 (a demographically representative sample) and we asked them:
- Which of the following, if any, would you most like to receive as gifts from loved ones this Christmas? (Select up to 3)
- Cash
- Clothing or footwear
- Gift vouchers
- Jewellery
- Books
- Toiletries or cosmetics
- Alcoholic drinks
- Food
- Experiences (e.g. days out vouchers)
- Gadgets
- Hand made gifts of any kind
- Plants
- Sports or fitness equipment
- Board games or puzzles
- Flowers
- Art work
- N/A I do not celebrate Christmas
- Soft toys
- I don’t want to receive gifts from loved ones this Christmas
- Magazine subscription
- Non alcoholic drinks
- Other
Here’s how the Great British public answered:
|
Which of the following, if any, would you most like to receive as gifts from loved ones this Christmas? (Choose up to 3)
|
|
Response
|
% of People Who Gave This Answer
|
|
Cash
|
29.24%
|
|
Clothing or footwear
|
23.34%
|
|
Gift vouchers
|
19.84%
|
|
Jewellery
|
16.59%
|
|
Books
|
16.24%
|
|
Toiletries or cosmetics
|
15.49%
|
|
Alcoholic drinks
|
13.19%
|
|
Food
|
11.39%
|
|
Experiences (e.g. days out vouchers)
|
10.99%
|
|
Gadgets
|
10.74%
|
|
Hand made gifts of any kind
|
9.15%
|
|
Plants
|
6.55%
|
|
Sports or fitness equipment
|
6.10%
|
|
Board games or puzzles
|
6.05%
|
|
Flowers
|
5.95%
|
|
Art work
|
4.45%
|
|
N/A – I do not celebrate Christmas
|
4.25%
|
|
Soft toys
|
2.95%
|
|
I don't want to receive gifts from loved ones this Christmas
|
2.80%
|
|
Magazine subscription
|
2.75%
|
|
Non alcoholic drinks
|
2.35%
|
|
Other (please specify)
|
1.40%
|
Cash really is king this Christmas. Almost 30% of UK adults, according to our statistics, would like Santa to drop off money!
In Second place, with just under 24%, was clothing or footwear and in third place (19.84%) was gift vouchers.
So it seems there’s a real preference this year in being given the cash or the vouchers to choose our own gifts.
If we break the respondents down by age, gender and even region, we see variation as you’d expect (more on that later).
But cash really is king for everyone - well, almost!
How many of us want cash for Christmas?
Let’s dive into the data.
|
Proportion of respondents (by age, gender and region) who said they’d like to receive cash as a gift this Christmas
|
|
Respondent Group
|
% of People Who Gave This Answer
|
|
Men
|
29.09%
|
|
Women
|
29.38%
|
|
By Age
|
|
16 - 24
|
32.82%
|
|
25 - 34
|
42.68%
|
|
35 - 44
|
32.51%
|
|
45 - 54
|
32.82%
|
|
55+
|
19.56%
|
|
By Region
|
|
East of England
|
32.80%
|
|
Greater London
|
32.18%
|
|
East Midlands
|
26.71%
|
|
West Midlands
|
29.78%
|
|
North East
|
28.76%
|
|
North West
|
22.27%
|
|
Northern Ireland
|
36.84%
|
|
Scotland
|
32.34%
|
|
South East
|
27.70%
|
|
South West
|
32.54%
|
|
Wales
|
24.73%
|
|
Yorkshire and the Humber
|
27.61%
|
Across every region and almost every age group, cash was the single (or joint single) most popular response.
But not amongst the 55 and overs, where it was the 4th most popular response (19.56%), behind clothing and footwear (20.21%), gift vouchers (20.21%) and books (19.95).
What young adults want for Christmas
So with the age variation in mind, we’ve dived into our survey statistics to reveal the most desired Christmas gifts for each age group in 2023.
Here are the top 10 gifts 16 to 24 year olds picked:
|
Which of the following, if any, would you most like to receive as gifts from loved ones this Christmas? (Choose up to 3)
|
|
Response
|
Proportion of 16 to 24 year olds who gave this response
|
|
Cash
|
32.82%
|
|
Clothing or footwear
|
25.48%
|
|
Jewellery
|
21.24%
|
|
Gift vouchers
|
16.22%
|
|
Food
|
15.44%
|
|
Gadgets
|
14.29%
|
|
Books
|
10.81%
|
|
Sports or fitness equipment
|
10.81%
|
|
Alcoholic drinks
|
10.04%
|
|
Experiences (e.g. days out vouchers)
|
9.65%
|
Cash remains king here with a third of the youngest respondents in our survey citing this as a preferred Christmas gift. Clothing or footwear and jewellery also bagged over 20% too.
What 25 to 34 Year Olds Want for Christmas
When we look at the same data specifically for those aged 25 to 34, here are the stats:
|
Which of the following, if any, would you most like to receive as gifts from loved ones this Christmas? (Choose up to 3)
|
|
Response
|
Proportion of 25 to 34 year olds who gave this response
|
|
Cash
|
42.68%
|
|
Clothing or footwear
|
25.86%
|
|
Gift vouchers
|
21.18%
|
|
Toiletries or cosmetics
|
17.76%
|
|
Experiences (e.g. days out vouchers)
|
16.20%
|
|
Jewellery
|
14.33%
|
|
Books
|
13.71%
|
|
Food
|
13.08%
|
|
Gadgets
|
13.08%
|
|
Hand made gifts of any kind
|
12.46%
|
Over 40% of 25 to 34 year olds would opt for cash, making this (by some way) the most popular Christmas gift option for this age group.
Again, clothing and footwear fared well with over a quarter choosing that option. More than 1 in 5 would like to receive gift vouchers.
What 35 to 44 Year Olds Want for Christmas
We then dived into the statistics for 35 to 44 year olds and found:
|
Which of the following, if any, would you most like to receive as gifts from loved ones this Christmas? (Choose up to 3)
|
|
Response
|
Proportion of 35 to 44 year olds who gave this response
|
|
Cash
|
32.51%
|
|
Clothing or footwear
|
25.08%
|
|
Gift vouchers
|
20.43%
|
|
Jewellery
|
17.34%
|
|
Books
|
15.48%
|
|
Toiletries or cosmetics
|
15.48%
|
|
Alcoholic drinks
|
15.17%
|
|
Gadgets
|
13.62%
|
|
Food
|
13.31%
|
|
Experiences (e.g. days out vouchers)
|
8.98%
|
Cash, clothing and gift vouchers are the most popular options here.
What 45 to 54 Year Olds Want for Christmas
Amongst the 45 to 54 year olds we found:
|
Which of the following, if any, would you most like to receive as gifts from loved ones this Christmas? (Choose up to 3)
|
|
Response
|
Proportion of 45 to 54 year olds who gave this response
|
|
Cash
|
32.82%
|
|
Clothing or footwear
|
24.85%
|
|
Gift vouchers
|
19.94%
|
|
Jewellery
|
18.40%
|
|
Alcoholic drinks
|
17.48%
|
|
Toiletries or cosmetics
|
16.87%
|
|
Books
|
15.03%
|
|
Food
|
12.27%
|
|
Gadgets
|
11.66%
|
|
Experiences (e.g. days out vouchers)
|
8.28%
|
Cash, clothing and gift vouchers are the most popular options here.
What Those Aged 55 and Over Want for Christmas
Amongst the 55 and over age group we found the top 10 gifts ere:
|
Which of the following, if any, would you most like to receive as gifts from loved ones this Christmas? (Choose up to 3)
|
|
Response
|
Proportion of those aged 55+ who gave this response
|
|
Clothing or footwear
|
20.21%
|
|
Gift vouchers
|
20.21%
|
|
Books
|
19.95%
|
|
Cash
|
19.56%
|
|
Toiletries or cosmetics
|
16.32%
|
|
Jewellery
|
14.90%
|
|
Alcoholic drinks
|
12.69%
|
|
Experiences (e.g. days out vouchers)
|
11.27%
|
|
Hand made gifts of any kind
|
8.55%
|
|
Food
|
8.16%
|
This is the only age group for which cash is not the top answer, though still remains one of the most popular.
When do we Start Our Christmas Shopping?
We took a look at some data about Google search habits to take a view on when people start shopping online for Christmas gifts.
We used Kwfinder.com to look at the estimated searches per month for “Christmas gifts” over the last few years.
Consistently over the last couple of years, searches for “Christmas gifts” have peaked in November of each year.
If we look at 2022, 3,600 searches took place in January (perhaps some starting very early and making the most of the New Year sales!).
In February through to April there were just 1,600 searches and things start to creep up slightly in May (2,400) and June (3,600). From July (6,600) things start to rise rapidly. And the late Summer/Autumn season sees things really kick off:
- August - 22,200
- September - 74,000
- October - 135,000
- November - 246,000
- December - 201,000
So arguably, we could say (based on an assumption that a proportion of those searching for Christmas gifts are shopping) that Christmas gift shopping starts for some early birds in August, but really gets going in October each year.
Of course, “christmas gifts” is just one way of thousands of different ways that people might shop online.
Last Minute Searchers
Not everyone is as organised as the August starters though. If we head to Google trends and look up “last minute Christmas gifts,” we can see the peak for that query is on 23rd December 2022.
How Much Do We Spend on Christmas Gifts in the UK?
According to a YouGov poll last year, the average Brit was expecting to spend £642 on Christmas, of which
£300 was on gifts.
Will the financially turbulent year of 2023 so far mean Brits spend less this Christmas?
What Happens to the Unwanted Gifts?
So, not everyone is going to get everything they want. In fact, around 33 million Brits will get an unwanted gift at Christmas. And for those who got gifts they
simply won’t use, what happens to them?
Almost a quarter of Brits say they keep the gift regardless, while just over 1 in 5 say they regift it.
11% admit to selling their unwanted gifts. Even right now (in September 2023) there are over 400 listings on ebay with “Unwanted Christmas Gift” in the title or description. We can assume that’s likely to rise come Boxing Day
2023!
Other Christmas Stats, Facts and Figures
A few other quirky facts and figures around Christmas courtesy of the Office of National Statistics:
- Supermarkets sell around 750 million Brussel sprouts at Christmas but it’s estimated that half go uneaten!
- Over 2 million people in the UK head overseas for a holiday in December
- Perhaps unsurprisingly, Christmas Day is the least popular day of the year for getting married! There are actually on average just 5 marriages each Christmas Day across the country
- Around 1 in 20 employed people in the UK will have to work on Christmas Day
Have You Started Your Christmas Shopping?
Feeling inspired to get your shopping done? You can have Christmas flowers delivered across the UK right up to Christmas Eve!
