Christmas spending to hit £16.5bn as 60pc of Brits head to discounters for their festive food shop
Britons are feeling a bit more generous this Christmas than they were last year thanks to improved economic conditions and higher wages, new figures show, with spending set to reach £16.5bn over the festive season.
Travelodge’s annual Christmas report, which surveyed the spending habits of over 3,000 people, found that households expect to spend an average of £614.96 on Christmas this year, which is £132.59 more than last year.
Presents make up over half of their Christmas budget, with families forking out around £394.66 on an average of 14 presents – one more than last year. Food and drink for the Christmas meal is the second biggest cost at £140.05, with 60 per cent of shoppers saying they will be doing most of their festive food shopping in discount stores this year.
Aldi and Lidl now account for 11.1 per cent of the market, according to the latest industry figures from Nielsen, with over half of households visiting one of the two discounters each month.
The report also revealed that on average Britons will be travelling 71 miles, with over half making the trip to spend Christmas day with family and friends. Overall, travel is expected to set Britons back by an average £38.50, with decorations (£41.75) making up the rest of the Christmas budget.
“Our 2015 Christmas spending report shows that consumer confidence is returning and it looks like being a Merry Christmas for the economy this year," Travelodge’s Shakila Ahmed, said.
"We are also experiencing this festive cheer, with a double digit sales increase in room bookings from people taking shopping-themed city breaks and looking for a spare room to host visiting family and friends during the Christmas holidays,” she added.
The report showed households in Liverpool are the biggest spenders (£804), followed by Wolverhampton (£734.70) and Plymouth (£734.70). Meanwhile Glaswegians are the thriftiest this Christmas, spending just £383.12, which is £231.84 below the national average.