Despite the difficulties and a rather uncertain economic context, Italians have no intention of giving up celebrating Christmas in a big way. This year, families are ready to spend record amounts on the holidays, with a total expense – including gifts, dinners, lunches, travel and food purchases – which could reach 25 billion euros.
The average budget per person for gifts is around 225 euros, and according to Codacons spending on gifts could reach 9.5 billion euros, while Confesercenti-Ipsos predicts a slightly lower figure, equal to 8.1 billion . The average expenditure per family, considering gifts, dinners, lunches and trips, will be around 992 eurosa significant figure that highlights how Christmas remains an important occasion for significant consumption, even if the price increases on many products, food and otherwise, are growing.
As for the traditional Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas lunch, Italians will spend around 3.2 billion eurosmarking an increase of 300 million compared to the previous year and a whopping 500 million compared to pre-Covid Christmas. This increase is not due so much to an increase in consumption, but rather toprice surge, which affected several products. Butter, for example, increased by 20%, coffee by 13.3%, olive oil by 9.7%, and tomatoes by 23.7%. The thirteenths, which this year rose to 51.3 billion euros, contribute to supporting this expenditure, thanks also to a better employment trend.
Fashion and technology, the most popular gifts
When it comes to gifts, fashion comes first. In fact, 47% of Italians will choose clothing or bags as a gift. This is followed by footwear (19%) and cosmetic products, together with games and toys. Books (33%) and technological products (32%) also continue to be in high demand, although the trend is to prefer cheaper technological gifts, such as gadgets under 150 euros, rather than very expensive devices. 30% of people will opt for gastronomic giftswhile 23% will choose wine shop products, which continue to be appreciated especially during the Christmas holidays.
Even though e-commerce is increasingly present in Italians’ habits, most people still prefer to shop in physical stores, especially if they are looking for the last gift or last-minute occasion. According to the data, 61% of Christmas purchases will be made in physical storesof which 46% in neighborhood shops or shopping centres, 10% in single-brand shops and 4% in markets or Christmas markets.
According to Confesercenti-Ipsos, on average they will be done just under nine gifts each. The ones spending the most will be those over 34 (231 euros) and men (256 euros), at a territorial level the residents of the Center with 264 euros and of Northern Italy at 246 euros.
Ready to go
Even if the increases are evident, especially in the tourism sector, Italians continue to travel for holidays. For travel, Italians are preparing to spend 12.7 billion euros, according to Codacons forecasts. Holiday packages cost 13.4% more than last Christmas, while hotel stays increased by 6.1%. Transport costs are also increasing: the price of trains rose by 3.9%, while flights to Europe saw an increase of 8.5%. Despite these increases, however, the desire to travel and spend the holidays in company does not seem to have diminished, and many families are preparing to leave.
Source: Vanity Fair
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