Consumers to spend €1.5bn this Christmas

Irish people are going to splurge almost €1.5bn on food, drink, and presents this Christmas — more than any country in Europe.

The annual Deloitte consumer survey of Christmas spending predicts the average spend in more than 1.6m households in Ireland this Christmas, excluding travel, will be €894, with an average of €484.81 on gifts, €258.84 on food and €150.76 on socialising. The majority of budgets will go on gifts (30%), followed by food (28%), and socialising (24%).

However, despite spending more than consumers across Europe, Ireland is one of five countries where consumers plans to spend less. Consumers in France (-0.9%), Portugal (-2.3%), Italy (-2.4%), and Greece (-12.8%) also intend on decreasing spending.