2024 Christmas shopping spree: How much is the West really spending?

Whether we embrace it or not, Christmas is increasingly associated with easing our financial restraint and indulging in extra spending.

A poll taken for Newsweek reports that the American consumer will spend an average $470.60 on gifts for loved ones in 2024.

The range of spending is huge, however; most people will spend between $100 and $700 but 14% will rack that figure up to $900 and over.

One percent has decided to ignore the gift-giving tradition entirely, unable to justify such extravagance given the spiraling cost of living and the difficulty of making it to the end of the month.

Some struggling families splash out anyway, caught up in the consumer Christmas frenzy which can be hard to resist, particularly with small children.

According to a Bankrate report, gift spending increased by 3.1% this year, though 23% of American consumers said it had put a strain on their budget.

“People can spend beyond their means for many reasons: peer pressure, social pressure,” Austin Kilgore, an analyst with the Achieve Center for Consumer Insights, told Newsweek.

“It’s easy to get caught in the habit of giving what your mother-in-law believes she deserves, a gift equal to what your friend gave you last year or enough presents to make a larger-than-ever pile under the tree,” he added.

In the US, Christmas gift spending was at its most extravagant in the Northeast and Midwest of the country.

But, in general, America is not out of step with its European counterparts regarding the average outlay on gifts, though Canada appears to be the biggest spender at an average of $663 ($955 CAD), according to the Giftafeeling website.

In Europe, Spaniards are most likely to splash their cash with an average $520 (€499.7) spent on presents, according to Statista, though this could be because they feel obliged to give on both December 25 and Kings Day on January 6.

The French, who also celebrate the Epiphany on January 6, spend an average of $491 (€471.6), Italy $465.6 (€447.1) and Germany $444.6 (€427), Statista reports.

In the UK, people will spend an average of between $63 (£50) and $126 (£100) for each close family member and half of that for each extended family member, a Credit Union 2024 survey found.

In fact, the UK went wilder than its European neighbors at Christmas last year, collectively spending as much as $111.7 billion (£88.29 billion), according to Statista.

At the other end of the spectrum, Belgium kept a tighter hold on the purse strings, spending altogether $12.19 billion (£9.63 billion).

While the global gift industry is currently worth $72.56 billion, this is set to rise by 3.74% a year until 2031, reaching an eye-watering $95 billion, the Giftafeeling website reports.