What Does the Average Consumer Spend on Gifts During the Holiday Season? (2013–2023)
According to industry experts’ forecast, the average holiday spend per person in 2023 is set to register its biggest increase in at least a decade, to $875. If you’re a business owner looking to capitalize on the increased shopping activities during the winter holidays, you’ll need to know what portion of this is expected to be on presents. In other words: What does the average consumer spend on gifts during the holiday season?
What does the average consumer spend on gifts during the holiday season: 2023
The latest data published by the National Retail Federation shows that the average consumer is projected to spend $620 on gifts in 2023. This constitutes 70.9% of the total holiday spending per person, which means that out of every $100 a holiday shopper is expected to spend during the holiday season, $70.90 will be on presents.
2023’s figure marks a 5.8% rise from the average consumer’s expenditure on gifts in 2022. It is also the first annual increase in at least four years and the second-largest in at least a decade.
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But what are shoppers planning to gift? The same survey shows that 56% of holiday shoppers intend to purchase clothing or accessories as holiday presents, making it the most popular year-end gift category. This is followed by gift cards, which 44% of consumers plan to give as presents. Toys round out the three most popular holiday gifts of 2023, with 37%.
What does the average consumer spend on gifts during the holiday season: 2013–2022
What does the average consumer spend on gifts during the holiday season, and how has this evolved over the past decade?
The same data shows that, despite several rises and falls, the average consumer spend on holiday gifts has largely risen since 2013. That year, consumers spent $558 on gifts. This rose by 6.6% in 2014, the largest yearly increase between 2013 and 2023, to $595.
A marginal 1.7% rise followed in 2015, which brought gift expenditures to $605 per person. In 2016, a 2.6% dip saw gift spend fall below the $600 mark, to $589.
Three consecutive years of growth followed, and by 2019, the average holiday shopper was spending $659 on gifts—the highest amount ever recorded. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, consumer spending waned, and expenditure on holiday gifts fell in 2020, 2021, and 2022.