ieExplains: How fast does Santa travel and how many toys does he make?

How many toys can he fit in his sleigh and how many toys can the big man make? Dr Naomi Lavelle on the important questions like how does Santa do it all?

Santa Claus rides his sleigh through different time zones.

How do the elves do it?

Five-year-old Eimear would like to know how the elves can work so quickly? Santa has a lot of elves helping him, the latest estimate suggests that he has 110,000 elves as part of his team. Of course, not all the elves are making toys, many are in the research and development department, coming up with new improved technologies to help Santa with all parts of the job. Some elves are part of the very important administrative team, checking lists and keeping Santa up to date. That still leaves a lot of elves for toy making, a conservative estimate suggests that about 90,000 elves are involved, in some way, in making the toys.