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The 2024 Christmas Consumer

IPA Insight Christmas Report

The average British consumer expects to spend almost £600 (£593.90) on core Christmas-related products and activity - including food, gifts, decorations, socialising and travelling - during the 2024 festive period. This is according to the IPA’s annual Christmas-focussed survey of 2,000 UK adults, carried out by Opinium.

Key findings include:

  • The majority (55%) of UK adults expect to spend most of their Christmas 2024 budget on gifts for others, followed by food and drink (18%), travel (6%), gifts for themselves (4%), socialising (4%) and decorations (2%).
  • Almost a third (31%) of all consumers expect to still be shopping during December, while 43% plan to have finished their shopping before Black Friday.
  • Parents are more likely to do their shopping early (18% in September and October and 20% in the first half of November 20%) than non-parents (13% in September and October and 14% in early November).
  • Younger generations are most likely to take advantage of the Black Friday sales with 82% of 18-24s and 75% of 25-34s planning to spend at least a quarter of their budget during this time. 85% of over 75s and 73% of 65-74s do not intend to spend any of their budget during the period.
  • Young workers are the most open to buying gifts from new or emerging brands with almost two-thirds (61%) of 25-34s and more than half of 18-24s (54%) and 35-44s (56%) considering this.
  • Fifty-six percent of 18-24s and 25-34s hope to receive practical or essential gifts rather than luxury items this Christmas. This is lowest among over 75s (28%) and 55-64s (32%).