Premium food, clothing and technology purchases are expected to drive a 5% jump in festive spending to £22.7bn this year, according to figures that suggest UK consumers will outstrip the first post-pandemic Christmas in 2021.
The average spending on gifts and celebrations is expected to rise from £416 to £433 for each person, the survey of 2,000 adults by the accountancy firm PwC found.
Consumers are likely to be keener to spend after the easing of the cost of living crisis, which affected household finances during 2022 and 2023 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine prompted global energy prices to soar. UK inflation has dropped from 10.5% in December 2022 to 2.3% in October.
The research suggested that spending will exceed the £21.6bn, or £426 for each person, recorded in late 2021, when consumers were able to return to more normal festive socialising, albeit with some restrictions related to the Omicron variant of Covid.
Consumers named food and drink and Christmas dinner as the top spending priorities for 2024, suggesting that they might opt for more premium ranges,…
