Irish people to spend more than €700 on Christmas gifts this year

More than half of people are doing more of their shopping online to avoid crowds.

Irish people will spend more than €700 on Christmas presents this year – up a third on 2020.

According to a new survey, the average spend on Christmas gifts last year was €541 but that has jumped to an average of €721 this year.

A third of people claimed that they would have their Christmas shopping completed by the end of November, while 25% said they expected to have it finished in the first week of December.

There are still plenty of late shoppers, though, with 20% admitting that they usually leave their shopping until the last minute.

Men are more prone to this than women with 30% of male respondents leaving shopping to the last minute, compared to just 17% of female respondents.

Meanwhile, in a sign of the times, more than half (53%) of people are doing more of their shopping online to avoid crowds.

The survey of 1,001 shoppers from PayPal found that Offaly is the most generous county, spending an average of €1,004 on gifts this festive season, followed by Kildare (€928), Sligo (€890), Tipperary (€888), and Clare (€843).

Covid concerns

Some 31% of people are concerned that their presents will not arrive in time due to supply chain issues. Covid, Brexit and a shortage of lorry drivers have all caused supply issues this year.

Another main worry is that Covid lockdown restrictions could prevent people from celebrating with family and friends in person, with 52% feeling that concerned.

However, 38% of people agree that it feels like Christmas will be back to normal this year and 56% of Christmas hosts are not anxious about hosting people over the holidays.

More than half (57%) of Christmas hosts said they will only invite double vaccinated guests for celebrations at their home.

Irish people are planning on being more generous with their money, due to Covid-19.

Some 38% of the more than 1,000 people surveyed said the pandemic has caused them to be more generous with their time and money in relation to charitable causes, with 92% saying they donated to charity by giving money, donating items, offering raffle prizes or giving to a food bank.

According to the research, Irish people donate an average of €87 a year to causes close to their hearts.

Based on donations during the average year, the most generous givers are from Carlow (€178), Wicklow (€106), Sligo (€103), Meath (€102) and Wexford (€100).