AXA says that the average working Briton is planning to cut their Christmas present budget by 12 percent compared to 2005. The amount spent by individuals is set to fall to 531 in 2006 from 600 1 in 2005, but Britain is second only to the USA in global spending on presents The reports says that the top ten spending nations all plan to reduce the amount spent on Christmas gifts this year.
With millions set to spend less on presents for friends and family the only solace to be taken is the Brits still spend significantly more on Christmas presents than many countries around the world. A longer term concern, is that spending in the world’s leading economies is slowing down, as evidenced by the fact that people in many different countries have decided that they can spend less this year on friends and family.
The typical Brit doesn’t seem to be showing much imagination when it comes to choosing what to spend their hard on money on: A whopping 93 percent of working people say that they will be buying books, CDs, DVDs, theatre or concert tickets; 88 percent will be buying clothes; and 83 percent will be buying sweets or chocolate. The least popular gifts to give are mobile phones, digital cameras and travel vouchers.
“With Christmas being one of the major costs in the calendar year along with holidays, birthdays and anniversaries it is a good indicator of how we are feeling about our financial well-being,” says Alison Green from AXA. “Although our research shows that people are planning to trim the amount they spend this year, they are still spending healthy sums on gifts. Maybe it’s too much to hope for, but after the credit boom we have seen in recent years, maybe the messages about financial planning that AXA and others have been stressing, are beginning to bear fruit.”