We are less than a month away from Christmas, and the now traditional studies on the French budget for the great gift-giving holiday are multiplying. Here are their conclusions.
The gift budget is dropping again…
First observation: the budget for gifts continues to decline. The Cofidis-CSA study (1) estimates it at €323 on average, with a drop of €9 compared to 2023. This is the lowest average budget ever observed by this study which began in 2017.
Same trend in the OpinionWay barometer (2) for Bonial (a company specializing in catalogs for mass distribution), according to which the average budget devoted to gifts decreases to €414, or €12 less than in 2023.
A downward observation shared by the Yougov survey (3) for Ankorstore (marketplace for professionals), with an average Christmas budget (gifts but also food or clothes) at €442 for residents of the Grand Est, a drop of the order of €39 compared to 2023 (€481, or less – 8%). In other regions, the average budget is for example estimated at €581 in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and €543 in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
… except…
Only a Yougov study (4) for Havas Market sees an increase in the gift budget of 16 euros compared to 2023, to 261.40 euros. But for 40% of French people, the budget remains less than 200 euros.
The number of gifts stable
This is one of the points that has not changed for years: each French person will give seven gifts on average according to Cofidis-CSA, a stable figure since 2019.
Same stability and same figure of 7 gifts for Bonial-OpinionWay. This study also highlights that the proportion of French people declaring that they do not want to buy gifts is decreasing, from 14% in 2023 to 9% this year.
Inflation, the end of the nightmare?
Despite a still uncertain context, the slowdown in inflation (forecasts at 2% for 2024 compared to 4.9% in 2023 according to INSEE) and a certain improvement in the economic situation are felt, according to most surveys .
Cofidis-CSA estimates that 55% of respondents do not fear the economic impact on the end-of-year holidays. They were only 44% in 2023. Same tone for the Rakuten-Ipsos barometer (5) which estimates that 49% of French people (+ 11 points compared to 2023) will see their purchasing power stabilize as we approach Christmas (13% that it will improve, 38% that it will deteriorate).
Conversely, Ankorstore-Yougov indicates that 72% of French people do not perceive any improvement in their purchasing power, and that for 49% of them, the holiday season is even a source of financial stress. As is often the case, feelings are always difficult to measure, especially in a context where economic decisions are sometimes taken quickly.
To save money, Black Friday remains popular
In this context, how can we save money? Even criticized, particularly by small merchants, the Black Friday promotional period remains appreciated by the French. According to Rakuten-Ipsos, more than 8 in 10 French people plan to do their Christmas shopping on Black Friday. A figure which rises to 92% for young people aged 16 to 34. Purchasing during promotional periods remains the main source of savings for 37% of Cofidis-CSA respondents.
The opportunity too
Another trend is second-hand or second-hand gifts. 50% of Rakuten-Ipsos respondents plan to offer second-hand or reconditioned gifts, a practice that has increased significantly since 2020 (18%), a sign that it is becoming a lasting part of consumption habits.
(1) Study on a sample of 1010 French people, representative of the French national population aged 18 and over, administered online from October 17 to 21, 2024.
(2) Representative sample of the French population aged 18 and over 1,006 people. Survey carried out from October 25 to 26, 2024.
(3) Survey of French people carried out online from October 22 to 24, 2024 with a national sample of 2,004 people aged 18 and over.
(4) Survey carried out online, from October 7 to 9, 2024, with 1,001 people representative of the French national population aged 18 and over.
(5) Survey carried out online in October 2024 among a national sample of 2,500 individuals representative of the French population aged 16 and over.
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