This year Finns will spend a total of 550 euros per person on Christmas, just slightly short of the figure for 2012. Almost the same amount will be spent on presents, whereas more compromises will be made with other expenses. The effect on the overall budget, however, will only be four per cent.
On average, 323 euros will be spent on Christmas presents this year, as opposed to 330 euros last year. Families with children will once again spend the most on presents, 421 euros on average.
- One in five Finns intends to buy Christmas presents with more than 500 euros, with people aged 40 to 65, in particular, spending the most. And men will be a bit more generous with their gifts than women, says Anu Numminen, Nordea's Private Economist.
Other expenses, such as food, decorations, clothes and children's events, will be cut by about ten per cent compared to last year, with the budget amounting to 227 euros per person. Families with children will spend significantly more on these expenses – on average, 288 euros per person.
The biggest Christmas present budgets will be in western Finland, averaging 355 euros, whereas the smallest will be in the north, averaging 270 euros. The most sumptuous Christmas meals this year will be enjoyed in eastern Finland, where spending on food, decorations and other expenses will amount to 249 euros per person.
Budget will stay the same for the majority
It comes as a small surprise that the households with the lowest incomes (earning less than 20,000 euros a year) plan to increase their Christmas spending more often than the other households, with 11 per cent indicating they will have a higher budget. Cuts to the Christmas budget will be most widespread among households earning 20,000–35,000 euros, with more than a third of them (37 per cent) planning to spend less this year.
- The great majority of Finns, however, intend to spend the same amount of money on Christmas this year as they did last year. This confirms the minor changes in average euro amounts to be spent indicated by the survey, says Numminen.
One important source of money for the Christmas budget is the annual tax refunds, which were paid last week to 3.3 million Finns. According to Nordea's survey, slightly more than one in five Finns will spend some of their tax refund money on Christmas presents and preparations.
The data was obtained in a TNS Gallup survey commissioned by Nordea, in which 1,134 Finns aged 18 to 65 were interviewed between 29 October and 11 November 2013. The responses have been weighted taking into account the respondent's age, sex and place of residence.
For further information:
Anu Numminen, Private Economist, tel 050 597 0447