Christmas: Brits will spend £19bn on presents and eat 308m slices of turkey this year, study finds

Festive period will also see 154m crackers pulled and families travelling 5.6bn miles to visit friends and relatives

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Brits will spend more than £19 billion on presents, eat 308 million slices of turkey - and pull 154 million crackers this Christmas, a study has found.

Over the festive period, we will also travel 5.6 billion miles to visit almost 257 million friends and relatives.

Almost one in ten of us will even travel to at least two different countries to see loved ones over Yuletide.

In total we will buy 1.1 billion presents for 462 million people, with the average Brit buying 22 different gifts for nine people, spending almost £379 in total.

The study by British Airways also found we will typically travel 92 miles to deliver gifts to friends and relatives, amounting to 4.7 billion miles as a nation, as well as another two billion miles dropping off Christmas cards.

Brits will also spend £4.9 billion on Christmas nights out and endure more than 154 million cheesy cracker jokes.

For those observing a traditional British Christmas, the average adult will scoff two Christmas dinners over the festive period and on the day itself.

This will see the nation consume 308 million slices of turkey and 411 million sprouts, followed by 205 million slices of Christmas cake and pudding, all washed down with 205 million glasses of champagne.

People are frugal with their kisses though, with respondents saying they’ll be puckering up with just one person under the mistletoe - a habit only popular in the UK and US.

After the presents have been opened and dinner consumed, some 205 million Christmas movies will be watched, 462 million Christmas songs will be listened to, and two board games will be played – with half of those ending in an argument.

But the research, carried out via OnePoll.com and surveying 2,000 UK adults, found that while 47 per cent would like to spend Christmas somewhere cold, 30 per cent would prefer to deviate from tradition and head for the sun.

The top three destinations Brits would most like to jet away to were Australia (one in five), the USA (one in seven) and the Caribbean (one in ten). Canada and Norway were also close rivals.

And those dreams have come true for many, with Brits that have jetted away in the past heading to Australia and the USA first, followed by Spain, Germany and France.

Abigail Comber, head of brand and customer experience at British Airways said: “It’s staggering what we Brits will invest in the Christmas period – £19 billion on presents, £4.9 billion on nights out, the time that 154 million cracker jokes take to tell and the rows we’ll have over board games!

“We were less surprised by the distance people will travel to visit loved ones or deliver gifts and cards.

“We carry thousands of people over the Christmas period who are excited to be reunited with friends and family – many of whom haven’t seen each other for long periods of time, and a lot of whom are surprising their loved ones.

“Five-and-a-half billion miles is a long way for all those people to travel, but so worth it when they get to see the look on their family’s faces.”

Researchers, who also polled adults from other countries around the world, including Spain, Australia and Germany found some differences in the way people across the world celebrate the festive season.

Those in Spain visit eight relatives over the holiday period, travelling a total of 159 miles – around 40 miles more than Brits.

The Spanish will also spend twice as much as people in the UK on socialising with friends during the month of December.

Meanwhile, those in Germany will only buy gifts for six people, spending a total of just £234 – around £145 less than people in the UK splash out on their loved ones.

It also emerged that while many Brits dream of heading to Australia for Christmas, one in four of those from Oz wish they could spend the festive period in the UK.

And despite the warm weather they usually enjoy, a third would like to spend Christmas somewhere cold.

Abigail Comber added: “We also fly lots of people to the UK, who are excited for the cold, the festivities and our weird traditions – who knew that crackers are a distinctly British thing and only the Brits and Americans celebrate with a mistletoe kiss?”

Test your knowledge of Christmas traditions from around the world here.

This Christmas the average Brit will:

• Visit five relatives over the Christmas period – 256,695,805 nationwide
• Travel 92 miles delivering gifts - 4,723,202, 812 nationwide
• Travel 38 miles delivering Christmas cards – 1,950,888,118 nationwide
• Travel 109 miles visiting friends and family – 5,595,968,549
• Buy presents for nine people - 462,052,449 people nationwide
• Spend £378.50 on Christmas gifts each year - £19,431,872,438.50 nationwide
• Buy 22 different presents – 1,129,461,542 nationwide
• Send 21 Christmas cards – 1,078,122,381 nationwide
• Eat two Christmas dinners (102,678,322 nationwide) containing a total of six slices of turkey (308,034,966 nationwide), eight potatoes (410,713,288 nationwide) and eight sprouts (410,713,288 nationwide) as well as drink four glasses of champagne (205,356,644 nationwide).
• Kiss one person under the mistletoe – 51,339,161 nationwide
• Pull three Christmas crackers (154,017,483 nationwide) and hear three cheesy cracker jokes (154,017,483 nationwide)
• Watch four Christmas movies (205,356,644 nationwide) and five Christmas TV programmes (256,695,805 nationwide)
• Listen to nine Christmas songs (462,052,449 nationwide)
• Play two board games (102,678,322 nationwide) - one of which will end in a row (51,339,161 nationwide)

SWNS