Christmas budgets for French households remain similar to last year, with the majority of spending going towards presents, a new survey shows.
Average budgets are just under €500 per person, with €297 going towards presents. People are buying nine gifts each on average. This is the highest number of average gifts seen since 2017.
Food took up the next biggest portion of the budget at €123, with lesser costs for transport, decorations, and Christmas clothing.
While people are spending slightly less on presents (-€6 compared to 2024), they are spending more on transportation and clothing (+€8 and +€2 respectively).
Over 65s were the biggest spenders, with an average budget of €638, followed by 18-24 year-olds at €538.
Blue-collar workers had the lowest budget, at €370.
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Research conducted by the CSA for credit institution Cofidis showed that, while 64% of households were committing to a similar budget than last year, around half of all respondents believed that the economic situation has caused costs to rise.
This is particularly the case for food (74% of respondents said they were concerned over Christmas food prices) and presents (68%).
In comparison, only 24% of respondents were concerned about the impact of fuel prices and other transportation costs such as train tickets (20%) during the Christmas period.
To help budgets go further, a third of people said they make purchases during sales periods to obtain the best prices, and 22% no longer give presents to non-children in their family.
In the 18-24 age group, 18% made Christmas purchases using a delayed payment option at least once and 12% considered a loan of some kind to pay for Christmas.
Christmas remains the favourite holiday for more than three-quarters of people, and 80% see it as a joyful occasion.
However 30% find it stressful, and while 7% of people feel guilty about their spending this rises to 14% in the 18-24 age group.
