Occitanie: what budget for this Christmas 2024?

What budget (gifts, meals, outfits, decoration) for the inhabitants of Occitanie to celebrate Christmas? This is the question that the Ankorstore platform is trying to answer, via a survey carried out among 300 retailers and 2004 French people.

According to the study data, 70% of residents of the Occitanie region say they do not see any improvement in their purchasing power (like 72% of French people). If inflation does indeed seem to be slowing down, financial pressure remains strong on Occitan households, 51% of whom feel the upcoming holiday period as a source of financial stress (for 50% of French people). As a result, the average budget planned for the end of year celebrations by Occitans in 2024 is lower than the national average: €489 compared to €508 for the French. 81% of residents of the Occitanie region do not plan to increase their spending this year (compared to 80% of French people).

Differences between generations

More than three quarters aged 55 and over do not feel the drop in inflation on their purchasing power. They are therefore planning a budget reduction for the holidays, with an average budget of €485, down 8.5% compared to last year. Same trend among 45/54 year olds, 78% of whom say they do not feel the drop in inflation. The latter therefore have a reduced budget for Christmas of €447, a decrease of 9% compared to the previous year.

18/24 year olds are more optimistic than the rest of the population, and even plan a budget for Christmas estimated at €680 (i.e. +34% than the average French budget). This represents an increase of more than 20% compared to 2023.

A large gap between the budget of Ile-de-France residents and that of Occitans

Not all regions are in the same boat, as shown by the gap between the budget forecasts of a resident of the Ile-de-France region (€601) and those of an Occitan resident (€489). Among the other regions, we find budgets higher than the national average in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (€581) and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur (€543). The Centre-Val-de-Loire (€426), Pays-de-la-Loire (€428) and Brittany (€422) regions are those where residents' Christmas budget is the lowest.