One in four say they won’t be buying gifts at all this year
People in Portugal anticipate spending 5.2% less this Christmas than last year, with one in four saying that they will not buy any gifts at all, a study conducted by Porto business school IPAM reveals.
The average amount people envisage spending on their Christmas shopping is €377 (against €398 euros in the run up to Christmas 2021), explains the 2022 Christmas Shopping Study conducted between November 26 and December 9 in mainland Portugal, involving 480 people, aged over 18.
When comparing “the amounts to be spent in 2022 with 2021 we see that 42% of respondents say they will spend less,” says the study.
A quarter (25.1%) of those polled said that they would not be buying any Christmas presents, or where there are children in the household, they will only be buying for them.
Overall, more than two thirds (67%) of those polled said that they would buy Christmas presents for their spouse and 63% for their parents, siblings and other family members” but only 30% of those polled intended to buy gifts for friends, according to the study.
Amongst children up to the age of 12, the most frequently bought presents are toys (24.2%) and books (15%).
For teenagers (aged between 12 and 18), the choices fall on clothing or footwear (32%), accessories (22%) and books (18%).
According to the study, these are also the preferred choices for Christmas presents for adults, but in a different proportion: clothes or footwear (25%), accessories (22%) and books (17%).
A quarter of people in Portugal plan all their gift shopping online, a fifth say they will do it in shopping centres. Only 10% said they preferred traditional high street shops.
Of total respondents, 78.3% will be receiving a Christmas bonus from their employer (a normal part of salary in Portugal), of which 2.1% state that they will not use this money for Christmas shopping. 2.1% admitted to likely to spend the ‘whole lot’.
One third of respondents estimate spending between 11% and 25% of their Christmas bonus on Christmas: a third expect to spend between 26% and 50%.
Lusa
