Gift Spending Statistics (2026)
Fact-checked and re-traced September 17, 2026
How much do people actually spend on gifts — and on what? Below are 145 current statistics on gift spending, occasions, gift cards, timing, returns, holiday debt and the German and UK markets, each taken from a named organisation's own release and dated so you can see how current it is. Where two respected sources disagree, both are shown with what each of them measured.
The six numbers people quote most
$778
Christmas and other holiday gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's November read of the same 2025 season it first measured at $1,007 in October. Both ends of the revision are published here
$1,595
Gifts, experiences and non-gift purchases (hosting, clothing, décor) per surveyed consumer, planned — not a gifts-only figure; Deloitte fields in late August and early September, earlier than NRF or Gallup
37%
Share of all surveyed US consumers who took on any holiday debt; surveyed after the season, actual — a different denominator from the average-debt figure, which counts borrowers only
19.3%
Returns as a share of ONLINE sales only. NRF publishes no separate in-store rate, so no in-store counterpart can be quoted.
€263
Gifts only, per person, planned; HDE's sample and question
Why two honest sources give different answers
The most common mistake in a gift-spending headline is treating one survey's number as the number. NRF, Gallup and Deloitte all measured the 2025 US holiday season carefully, and they reported $890, $778 and $1,595. None of them is wrong. NRF counts gifts plus decorations, food and cards; Gallup asks about gifts alone; Deloitte adds travel, hosting and everything else the season costs. The spread between them is not disagreement — it is three different questions.
Average US holiday spend, 2025: three surveys, three answers
NRF — Gifts plus seasonal items
Gallup — Gifts only, November read
Deloitte — Gifts, experiences and non-gift purchases
These three numbers do not contradict each other — they answer different questions. NRF adds decorations, food and cards to the gift budget. Gallup asks about gifts alone. Deloitte adds travel, hosting and everything else the season costs. Quote whichever matches your question, and say which one you used.
| Year | NRF — Gifts plus seasonal items | Gallup — Gifts only, November read | Deloitte — Gifts, experiences and non-gift purchases |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $890 | $778 | $1,595 |
That is why every figure on this page carries what it measures, who published it and when, and why we never average two sources together to produce a tidier number.
How much do people spend on Christmas gifts? (US)
These totals differ because each survey asks a different question — NRF separates gifts from seasonal items, Gallup asks about gifts only, and Deloitte's figure includes travel and entertainment. All three are legitimate; they simply aren't measuring the same thing.
The same question, asked twice: Gallup's October plan vs its November revision
Gallup — October read
Gallup — November read, same season
One organisation, one question, two points in the season. In 2023 and 2024 the November read barely moved. In 2025 it fell $229 — which is why an October figure quoted in January is a forecast, not a result.
| Year | Gallup — October read | Gallup — November read, same season |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $942 | — |
| 2020 | $805 | — |
| 2021 | $837 | — |
| 2022 | $932 | — |
| 2023 | $923 | $975 |
| 2024 | $1,014 | $1,012 |
| 2025 | $1,007 | $778 |
NRF per-person plans: the whole season vs gifts alone
NRF — Gifts plus seasonal items
NRF — Gifts for family and friends only
Both lines are NRF's own, from the same survey. The distance between them — around $260 a head — is decorations, food, cards and candy. Most articles quoting "the average American spends $890" mean the upper line while describing the lower one. NRF states 2023 and 2024 gift figures as approximate.
| Year | NRF — Gifts plus seasonal items | NRF — Gifts for family and friends only |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $833 | — |
| 2023 | $875 | $620 |
| 2024 | $902 | $641 |
| 2025 | $890 | $628 |
US November–December retail sales
NRF — Core retail, actual, excluding cars, fuel and restaurants
Actual sales, not survey plans — this is the season measured after the fact. NRF later restated 2024 as $976.1bn in its own FAQ; both vintages are listed in the table below, because a citation should say which one it used.
| Year | NRF — Core retail, actual, excluding cars, fuel and restaurants |
|---|---|
| 2021 | $887bn |
| 2022 | $936bn |
| 2023 | $964bn |
| 2024 | $994bn |
The average US shopper planned to spend $890.49 on 2025 winter-holiday gifts and seasonal items — $627.93 of it on gifts for family and friends.
Gifts plus seasonal items, per person, planned
US consumers planned a record $902 per person for the 2024 winter holidays across gifts, food, decorations and other seasonal items — about $25 more per person than 2023.
Gifts plus seasonal items, per person, planned; NRF publishes 2024 rounded to whole dollars
Americans celebrating the 2023 winter holidays expected to spend $875 each on gifts, decorations, food and other key seasonal items.
Gifts plus seasonal items, per person, planned
For the 2022 winter holidays, consumers planned to spend $832.84 each on gifts and holiday items.
Gifts plus seasonal items, per person, planned; the first season on NRF's current two-bucket definition, so it is not comparable with NRF figures before 2022, which also counted non-gift purchases for oneself
Of the $890.49 planned per person for the 2025 winter holidays, $627.93 was earmarked for gifts for family and friends.
Gifts for family and friends only, per person, planned — the gift subset of NRF's $890.49 total, not a separate survey
Of the $902 planned per person for the 2024 winter holidays, approximately $641 was for gifts for family, friends, co-workers and more — up from $620 the year before.
Gifts only, per person, planned; NRF states it as “approximately $641”, not an exact figure
Of the $875 planned per person for the 2023 winter holidays, approximately $620 was to be spent on gifts.
Gifts only, per person, planned; NRF states it as “approximately $620”, not an exact figure
US retail sales during the November–December 2021 holiday season grew 14.1% over 2020 to $886.7 billion.
Core retail sales for November–December, actual, excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants; the as-first-reported vintage from NRF's January 2022 release — NRF later restated the same season to $889.3 billion · The publisher revised this figure
US retail sales during the November–December 2022 holiday season grew 5.3% over 2021 to $936.3 billion.
Core retail sales for November–December, actual, excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants; the as-first-reported vintage from NRF's January 2023 release — NRF later restated the same season to $929.5 billion · The publisher revised this figure
Core US retail sales during the 2023 holiday season grew 3.8% over 2022 to a record $964.4 billion.
Core retail sales for November–December, actual, excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants; the as-first-reported vintage from NRF's January 2024 release — NRF later restated the same season to $955.6 billion · The publisher revised this figure
Core US retail sales during the 2024 holiday season grew an unexpectedly high 4.0% over 2023 to a record $994.1 billion.
Core retail sales for November–December, actual, excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants; the as-first-reported vintage from NRF's January 2025 release — NRF's own Winter Holiday FAQ page now carries $976.1 billion for the same season · The publisher revised this figure
NRF's own Winter Holiday FAQ page puts November–December 2024 holiday retail sales at $976.1 billion, 4.3% above 2023 — the same season it first reported at $994.1 billion.
Core retail sales for November–December, actual; the later NRF vintage of the 2024 season. The $994.1bn and $976.1bn figures are one season published twice, never two years of one series · The publisher revised this figure
In October 2019 Americans estimated they would personally spend an average of $942 on Christmas gifts.
Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's October read
Gallup's October 2020 read put average expected Christmas gift spending at $805 per person.
Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's October read
Gallup's October 2021 read put average expected Christmas gift spending at $837 per person.
Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's October read
US adults polled 3–20 October 2022 estimated they would spend an average of $932 on Christmas gifts.
Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's October read
Gallup's October 2023 read put average expected Christmas gift spending at $923 per person.
Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's October read
Gallup's October 2024 read put average expected Christmas gift spending at $1,014 per person.
Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's October read
In October 2025 Americans expected to lay out an average of $1,007 on gifts for the season — a figure Gallup itself cut to $778 when it asked again in November.
Christmas and other holiday gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's early-October read of the 2025 season, superseded by its own November read · The publisher revised this figure
Gallup's November 2023 read put average expected Christmas gift spending at $975 — the highest in its November measures since 1999.
Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's mid-season November read, a separate series from its October read
Gallup's November 2024 read put average expected Christmas gift spending at $1,012 per person.
Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's mid-season November read, a separate series from its October read
Asked again in November 2025, Americans estimated $778 on Christmas or other holiday gifts — down $229 from October's $1,007, the largest midseason decline Gallup has recorded, surpassing the $185 drop of the 2008 financial crisis.
Christmas and other holiday gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's November read of the same 2025 season it first measured at $1,007 in October. Both ends of the revision are published here · The publisher revised this figure
PwC put average planned gift spending for the 2024 winter holidays at $814 per consumer.
Gifts only, per consumer, planned — excludes travel and entertainment, which PwC reports separately
PwC's June 2025 Holiday Outlook put planned gift spending at $721 per consumer, down 11% from $814 in 2024.
Gifts only, per consumer, planned; PwC's June read of the 2025 season, which it revised UP to $770 in October — the opposite direction to Gallup's November cut in the same season · The publisher revised this figure
PwC's October 2025 Holiday Sentiment Survey raised average projected gift spend to $770, a 7% increase on the $721 it had measured in June.
Gifts only, per consumer, planned; PwC's October re-read of the 2025 season. Both ends of the revision are published here, and it runs upward while Gallup's revision of the same season runs down · The publisher revised this figure
For the 2026 winter holidays consumers expect to spend $708 on gifts — a dip of just 2%, even though consumer confidence fell 18.5% year on year.
Gifts only, per consumer, planned; PwC's June read of the 2026 season, with no October revision published as of September 2026
Deloitte's surveyed shoppers planned to spend an average of $1,652 on the 2023 holidays, 14% more than 2022 and the first year above pre-pandemic levels.
Gifts, experiences and non-gift purchases (hosting, clothing, décor) per surveyed consumer, planned — not a gifts-only figure; Deloitte fields in late August and early September, earlier than NRF or Gallup
Deloitte's surveyed shoppers expected to spend $1,778 on the 2024 holidays, 8% more than the year before.
Gifts, experiences and non-gift purchases (hosting, clothing, décor) per surveyed consumer, planned — not a gifts-only figure; Deloitte fields in late August and early September, earlier than NRF or Gallup
Deloitte's surveyed consumers planned to spend an average of $1,595 on the 2025 holidays, down 10% year over year.
Gifts, experiences and non-gift purchases (hosting, clothing, décor) per surveyed consumer, planned — not a gifts-only figure; Deloitte fields in late August and early September, earlier than NRF or Gallup
Deloitte forecast US holiday retail sales of $1.61 trillion to $1.62 trillion for the 2025 season, growth of 2.9% to 3.4%.
Total US holiday retail sales, forecast, for NOVEMBER TO JANUARY — a longer window than NRF, Bain and Adobe, which all measure November to December, so this figure never belongs beside their roughly $1 trillion season totals · A similar-looking figure elsewhere measures something else
What does the average gift cost, by occasion? (US)
Two kinds of figure sit in this section and they are not interchangeable. NRF measures what people spend on a whole occasion, which for Easter and Halloween includes candy, costumes and decorations. Empower asks what people think the right amount is for a single gift — a stated norm, not measured outlay.
US spending per person celebrating, 2026 occasions
NRF — Planned spend per person celebrating
Per person who celebrates, not per US adult — and participation differs sharply (84% for Mother's Day, 55% for Valentine's). One definition varies inside NRF's own set: the Valentine's figure is gifts only, while Easter, Mother's Day and Father's Day cover the whole occasion including food and clothing.
| Occasion | NRF — Planned spend per person celebrating |
|---|---|
| Valentine's | $200 |
| Easter | $196 |
| Mother's Day | $284 |
| Father's Day | $227 |
Valentine's Day shoppers budgeted a record $199.78 each on gifts in 2026, up from $188.81 a year earlier and past the $196.31 record set in 2020.
Gifts only, per person celebrating, planned spending reported before the occasion
NRF, 2026 · 7,791 adult consumers, fielded Jan 2–8 2026, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
Total US Valentine's Day spending was expected to reach a record $29.1 billion in 2026, above the previous record of $27.5 billion in 2025.
Total expected US consumer spending on the occasion, all categories, not per person
NRF, 2026 · 7,791 adult consumers, fielded Jan 2–8 2026, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
Just over half of US consumers (55%) planned to celebrate Valentine's Day in 2026.
Share of US consumers planning to celebrate — the population the $199.78 per-person figure is averaged over
NRF, 2026 · 7,791 adult consumers, fielded Jan 2–8 2026, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
Easter 2026 spending hit a record $195.59 per person, up from the previous record of $192.01 in 2023.
The whole occasion per person celebrating — candy, food, clothing and decorations included. It is not a per-gift figure: NRF puts the gift slice of Easter at $3.9 billion of the $24.9 billion total.
NRF, 2026 · 7,845 adult consumers, fielded Mar 2–11 2026, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
Total US Easter spending was expected to reach a record $24.9 billion in 2026.
Total expected US consumer spending on the whole occasion — food $7.5bn, gifts $3.9bn, clothing $3.7bn, candy $3.5bn, flowers $2.2bn
NRF, 2026 · 7,845 adult consumers, fielded Mar 2–11 2026, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
Eight in ten US consumers (80%) planned to celebrate Easter in 2026, in line with previous years.
Share of US consumers planning to celebrate — the population the $195.59 per-person figure is averaged over
NRF, 2026 · 7,845 adult consumers, fielded Mar 2–11 2026, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
Mother's Day 2026 spending set a record at $284.25 per person, up from $259.04 a year earlier — a $38 billion holiday.
Whole occasion, per person celebrating, planned
NRF, 2026 · 7,877 US adults, fielded Apr 1–8 2026, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
Total US Mother's Day spending was expected to reach a record $38 billion in 2026, above 2025's $34.1 billion and the $35.7 billion record of 2023.
Total expected US consumer spending on the occasion — jewellery $7.5bn, special outings $6.4bn, electronics $4.4bn, flowers $3.2bn, greeting cards $1.3bn
NRF, 2026 · 7,877 US adults, fielded Apr 1–8 2026, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
84% of US adults planned to celebrate Mother's Day in 2026, consistent with recent years.
Share of US adults planning to celebrate — the population the $284.25 per-person figure is averaged over
NRF, 2026 · 7,877 US adults, fielded Apr 1–8 2026, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
Father's Day 2026 spending averaged a record $226.58 per person, up from the previous record of $199.38 in 2025.
Whole occasion, per person celebrating, planned spending reported before the occasion
NRF, 2026 · 7,914 consumers, fielded Apr 30 – May 6 2026, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
Total US Father's Day spending was expected to reach a record $27.9 billion in 2026, up from the $24 billion record set in 2025.
Total expected US consumer spending on the occasion, all categories, not per person
NRF, 2026 · 7,914 consumers, fielded Apr 30 – May 6 2026, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
77% of US consumers planned to celebrate Father's Day in 2026, in line with previous years.
Share of US consumers planning to celebrate — the population the $226.58 per-person figure is averaged over
NRF, 2026 · 7,914 consumers, fielded Apr 30 – May 6 2026, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
US spending on graduation gifts was expected to reach a record $7.2 billion in 2026, with cash again the most-planned gift.
Total expected US spending on gifts for high school and college graduates. NRF publishes no quotable per-person average for graduation: the hub page states only the total and the participation share.
NRF, 2026 · 7,914 consumers aged 18+, fielded Apr 30 – May 6 2026, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics); hub page read 2026-09-17
39% of US respondents planned to buy a gift for a high school or college graduate in 2026.
Share of survey respondents planning to buy a graduation gift — gift-buyers, not people attending a ceremony
NRF, 2026 · 7,914 consumers aged 18+, fielded Apr 30 – May 6 2026, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics); hub page read 2026-09-17
Halloween 2025 spending reached a record $114.45 per person, up from the previous record of $108.24 in 2023.
The whole occasion per person celebrating — costumes, candy and decorations included, not gifts. NRF had published no 2026 Halloween figure as of 2026-09-17, so 2025 is the latest.
NRF, 2025 · 8,045 consumers, fielded Sept 2–9 2025, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
Total US Halloween spending was expected to reach a record $13.1 billion in 2025, up from $11.6 billion in 2024.
Total expected US consumer spending on the whole occasion — costumes $4.3bn, decorations $4.2bn, candy $3.9bn, greeting cards $0.7bn
NRF, 2025 · 8,045 consumers, fielded Sept 2–9 2025, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
Nearly three-quarters of US consumers (73%) planned to celebrate Halloween in 2025, in line with 2024's 72%.
Share of US consumers planning to celebrate — the population the $114.45 per-person figure is averaged over
NRF, 2025 · 8,045 consumers, fielded Sept 2–9 2025, MoE ±1.1pp (Prosper Insights & Analytics)
Americans put the going rate for an adult's birthday gift at $55.65.
What US adults say the going rate for one adult birthday gift is — a stated norm, not measured outlay · What people say is the right amount, not what they spent
Empower, 2025 · 2,202 US adults 18+, online, fielded Aug 19–21 2025, weighted nationally representative; no publication date printed (compliance code RO4780013-0825)
The stated going rate for a child's birthday gift is $83.03 — $27.38 more than the rate named for an adult.
What US adults say the going rate for one child's birthday gift is — a stated norm, not measured outlay · What people say is the right amount, not what they spent
Empower, 2025 · 2,202 US adults 18+, online, fielded Aug 19–21 2025, weighted nationally representative; no publication date printed (compliance code RO4780013-0825)
The stated going rate for a holiday gift is $64.10 per person given to.
What US adults say the going rate for one holiday gift is, per recipient — a stated norm, not measured outlay, and not comparable with NRF's whole-season per-person total · What people say is the right amount, not what they spent
Empower, 2025 · 2,202 US adults 18+, online, fielded Aug 19–21 2025, weighted nationally representative; no publication date printed (compliance code RO4780013-0825)
A nationally representative US panel puts the going rate for a wedding gift at $85.18.
What a nationally representative panel of US adults says a wedding gift should cost — a stated norm, not measured outlay, and a different population from the wedding-platform guest studies (The Knot $150, Zola $130). Never averaged with them. · What people say is the right amount, not what they spent
Empower, 2025 · 2,202 US adults 18+, online, fielded Aug 19–21 2025, weighted nationally representative; no publication date printed (compliance code RO4780013-0825)
The stated going rate for a teacher or coach gift is $15.00.
What US adults say the going rate for one teacher or coach gift is — a stated norm, not measured outlay · What people say is the right amount, not what they spent
Empower, 2025 · 2,202 US adults 18+, online, fielded Aug 19–21 2025, weighted nationally representative; no publication date printed (compliance code RO4780013-0825)
The stated going rate for a Valentine's Day gift is $50.69.
What US adults say the going rate for one Valentine's Day gift is — a stated norm, not measured outlay, and per gift rather than per person celebrating · What people say is the right amount, not what they spent
Empower, 2025 · 2,202 US adults 18+, online, fielded Aug 19–21 2025, weighted nationally representative; no publication date printed (compliance code RO4780013-0825)
The stated going rate for a Mother's Day gift is $55.25, against $38.48 for Father's Day.
What US adults say the going rate for one Mother's Day gift is — a stated norm, not measured outlay · What people say is the right amount, not what they spent
Empower, 2025 · 2,202 US adults 18+, online, fielded Aug 19–21 2025, weighted nationally representative; no publication date printed (compliance code RO4780013-0825)
The stated going rate for a Father's Day gift is $38.48 — $16.77 less than the rate named for Mother's Day.
What US adults say the going rate for one Father's Day gift is — a stated norm, not measured outlay · What people say is the right amount, not what they spent
Empower, 2025 · 2,202 US adults 18+, online, fielded Aug 19–21 2025, weighted nationally representative; no publication date printed (compliance code RO4780013-0825)
Guests spent an average of $150 on a wedding gift, according to the most recent The Knot Guest Study — $140 for a casual friend.
Average amount one guest spent on one wedding gift, among The Knot's wedding-platform audience. The Knot states neither a study year nor a sample size; 2026 is when its page was last updated. A different population from Zola's $130 and Empower's $85.18. · A similar-looking figure elsewhere measures something else
The Knot, 2026 · The Knot Guest Study; study year and sample size not stated on the page
Zola's 2026 First Look Report puts the average wedding-gift spend at $130, with most guests landing between $100 and $150 per person.
Average spend per guest, among Zola's wedding-platform audience (2026 First Look Report, over 11,500 couples marrying in 2026). The figure appears on Zola's advice page attributed to the report, not in the report itself, so that page is the source cited. A different population from The Knot's $150 and Empower's $85.18. · A similar-looking figure elsewhere measures something else
Zola, 2026 · 2026 First Look Report, survey of over 11,500 couples marrying in 2026; figure published on Zola's expert-advice page
The median holiday tip for a housekeeper was $50 in 2025, unchanged for a third year; 56% of people who use the service tipped.
Median reported tip among people who tip that role, not a mean and not an average per household
Bankrate, 2025 · YouGov Plc panel, 2,445 US adults, fielded Oct 27–29 2025, online non-probability sample with demographic quotas and weights
The median holiday tip for a childcare provider was $48 in 2025, down from $50 in each of the two previous years.
Median reported tip among people who tip that role, not a mean and not an average per household
Bankrate, 2025 · YouGov Plc panel, 2,445 US adults, fielded Oct 27–29 2025, online non-probability sample with demographic quotas and weights
The median holiday tip for a landscaper, gardener or snow remover jumped to $50 in 2025, from $30 a year earlier.
Median reported tip among people who tip that role, not a mean and not an average per household
Bankrate, 2025 · YouGov Plc panel, 2,445 US adults, fielded Oct 27–29 2025, online non-probability sample with demographic quotas and weights
The median holiday tip for a teacher was $25 in 2025, the same as in 2024 and 2023.
Median reported tip among people who tip that role, not a mean and not an average per household
Bankrate, 2025 · YouGov Plc panel, 2,445 US adults, fielded Oct 27–29 2025, online non-probability sample with demographic quotas and weights
The median holiday tip for a mail carrier was $20 in 2025 — the same $20 it has been every year since 2021.
Median reported tip among people who tip that role, not a mean and not an average per household
Bankrate, 2025 · YouGov Plc panel, 2,445 US adults, fielded Oct 27–29 2025, online non-probability sample with demographic quotas and weights
The median holiday tip for a trash or recycling collector was $25 in 2025, though only 21% of the people who use the service tipped.
Median reported tip among people who tip that role, not a mean and not an average per household
Bankrate, 2025 · YouGov Plc panel, 2,445 US adults, fielded Oct 27–29 2025, online non-probability sample with demographic quotas and weights
US households spent an average of $546.88 on cash gifts in 2024, down from $583.96 in 2023, with 17.25% of households reporting any.
The Consumer Expenditure Survey line "Other cash gifts", mean annual dollars per consumer unit (household) — not per person and not per gift. The CE detailed tables publish no "gifts of goods and services" aggregate, so this is the nearest published gift line; the 2022 value is suppressed by BLS for a relative standard error of 25% or more.
BLS, 2025 · Consumer Expenditure Survey, Table 2500, all consumer units; released December 2025; SE 46.19, RSE 8.45
The average US household spent $85.57 on stationery and gift wrap in 2024, up from $72.33 in 2023.
The Consumer Expenditure Survey diary line "Stationery, stationery supplies, and gift wrap", mean annual dollars per consumer unit (household) — wrapping and cards, not the gifts inside them
BLS, 2025 · Consumer Expenditure Survey, Table 2500, all consumer units; released December 2025
Gift cards
Gift cards top US wish lists again: 50% of holiday shoppers named them among the gifts they would like to receive in 2025, after 53% in 2024.
Share naming gift cards on a multi-select wish-list question. Both years come from the same NRF/Prosper October instrument, so they are comparable.
NRF, 2025 · 8,247 adult consumers, fielded 1–7 October 2025, margin of error ±1.1pp (NRF/Prosper Insights & Analytics)
US consumers were expected to spend $29 billion on gift cards over the 2025 winter holidays.
Winter-holiday season only. This is not an all-year US gift-card market size; no primary publishes one with methodology.
NRF, 2025 · NRF/Prosper Insights & Analytics winter holiday survey, 8,247 adult consumers, fielded 1–7 October 2025
Shoppers aged 65 and over expected to spend $58 per gift card in 2025, about $5 more than the average shopper.
Spend per card among over-65 buyers only, not per person and not across all ages
NRF, 2025 · NRF/Prosper Insights & Analytics winter holiday survey, 8,247 adult consumers, fielded 1–7 October 2025
Americans holding unused gift cards sit on $244 each on average — up 30% from $187 in 2023 — with a median of $100.
Mean unredeemed value per person who holds one. Bankrate publishes no national total, so this cannot be scaled into one.
Bankrate, 2024 · 2,373 US adults, of whom 1,010 hold unused gift cards; fielded 19–21 August 2024 by YouGov Plc
34% of gift-card holders have lost money through a gift-card misstep — 20% to expiry, 17% to a lost card, 12% to a store closing.
Share of gift-card holders, not of all US adults
Bankrate, 2024 · 2,373 US adults, of whom 1,010 hold unused gift cards; fielded 19–21 August 2024 by YouGov Plc
Timing: early birds and last-minute shoppers
Surveys disagree on how many people start early, because they ask on different dates and define "early" differently. Each figure below carries the question it answers.
42% of shoppers planned to begin browsing and buying for the 2025 holiday season before November.
Question asked: plan to begin browsing AND buying before November. NRF/Prosper, 8,247 adults, fielded 1–7 October 2025. Not comparable with Blackhawk's 34% or Bankrate's 49%.
NRF, 2025 · 8,247 adult consumers, fielded 1–7 October 2025, margin of error ±1.1pp (NRF/Prosper Insights & Analytics)
45% of holiday shoppers planned to browse and buy items before November in 2024.
Same NRF/Prosper October instrument and fieldwork window as the 2025 reading, so these two years are comparable with each other — and with nothing else on this page.
NRF, 2024 · 8,191 adult consumers, fielded 1–7 October 2024, margin of error ±1.1pp (NRF/Prosper Insights & Analytics)
49% of US holiday shoppers planned to begin their 2025 holiday shopping before the end of October.
Question asked: begin shopping before the end of October, put to the 2,020 respondents who plan to shop at all, fielded 28–30 July 2025 — months earlier than NRF's October fieldwork and on a different panel.
Bankrate, 2025 · 2,567 US adults, of whom 2,020 plan to shop for the holidays; fielded 28–30 July 2025 by YouGov Plc
34% of consumers planned to start their 2025 holiday shopping before November, with deals and savings the number-one reason given.
Question asked: start before November, put to all consumers in Blackhawk Network's own panel of over 2,100. A different instrument from NRF's, which read 42% for the same season.
Blackhawk Network, 2025 · Over 2,100 US consumers, BHN annual holiday forecast
60% of shoppers anticipated finishing their 2025 holiday shopping in December.
Month in which shoppers expect to finish, asked in early October
NRF, 2025 · 8,247 adult consumers, fielded 1–7 October 2025, margin of error ±1.1pp (NRF/Prosper Insights & Analytics)
63% of shoppers planned to wait until Thanksgiving weekend for most of their 2025 holiday purchases.
Share waiting for the Thanksgiving-to-Cyber-Monday window for the MAJORITY of purchases, not for any purchase
NRF, 2025 · 8,247 adult consumers, fielded 1–7 October 2025, margin of error ±1.1pp (NRF/Prosper Insights & Analytics)
By early December 2025 consumers had completed just over half of their holiday shopping — 51% on average.
Average share of one person's holiday shopping already done, measured 1–10 December 2025 — not the share of people who had finished
NRF, 2025 · 8,005 adult consumers, fielded 1–10 December 2025, margin of error ±1.1pp (NRF/Prosper Insights & Analytics)
Returns
NRF publishes two different figures that both read as "17%". One is the share of holiday sales expected to come back; the other is how much higher the holiday return rate runs than a retailer's annual rate. They are not two years of one series.
Retailers expect 17% of 2025 winter-holiday sales to be returned.
The share of holiday SALES expected to come back — an absolute return rate. It is not NRF's separate 2024 figure for how much higher the holiday rate runs than the annual rate. · A similar-looking figure elsewhere measures something else
NRF, 2025 · 2,006 consumers who had returned at least one online purchase in the past 12 months, plus 358 ecommerce professionals at US retailers over $500m revenue; fielded summer 2025
For the 2024 winter holidays, retailers expected their return rate to run 17% higher, on average, than their own annual return rate.
A RELATIVE uplift of the holiday return rate over a retailer's own annual rate (16.9% in 2024). It is not a share of holiday sales, and not another year of the 2025 absolute rate. · A similar-looking figure elsewhere measures something else
NRF, 2024 · 2,007 consumers who returned at least one online purchase in the past year, plus 249 ecommerce and finance professionals at US retailers over $500m revenue; fielded autumn 2024
US retailers expect $849.9 billion of merchandise to be returned across 2025.
Full-year value of returned merchandise across all US retail, from retailer estimates. No primary publishes a holiday-only dollar total.
NRF, 2025 · 2,006 consumers who had returned at least one online purchase in the past 12 months, plus 358 ecommerce professionals at US retailers over $500m revenue; fielded summer 2025
Retailers estimate that 15.8% of their annual sales will be returned in 2025.
Returns as a share of ANNUAL retail sales, all channels together
NRF, 2025 · 2,006 consumers who had returned at least one online purchase in the past 12 months, plus 358 ecommerce professionals at US retailers over $500m revenue; fielded summer 2025
An estimated 19.3% of US online sales will be returned in 2025.
Returns as a share of ONLINE sales only. NRF publishes no separate in-store rate, so no in-store counterpart can be quoted.
NRF, 2025 · 2,006 consumers who had returned at least one online purchase in the past 12 months, plus 358 ecommerce professionals at US retailers over $500m revenue; fielded summer 2025
Returns across US retail were projected to reach $890 billion in 2024.
Full-year value of returned merchandise across all US retail, 2024 wave
NRF, 2024 · 2,007 consumers who returned at least one online purchase in the past year, plus 249 ecommerce and finance professionals at US retailers over $500m revenue; fielded autumn 2024
Retailers estimated that 16.9% of their annual sales in 2024 would be returned.
Returns as a share of annual retail sales — the baseline the 2024 holiday uplift is measured against
NRF, 2024 · 2,007 consumers who returned at least one online purchase in the past year, plus 249 ecommerce and finance professionals at US retailers over $500m revenue; fielded autumn 2024
82% of consumers say free returns are an important consideration when shopping online.
Importance when shopping online, 2025 wording. NRF's 2024 question asked instead about "deciding where to shop" and read 76%, so the two are separate data points and not a trend.
NRF, 2025 · 2,006 consumers who had returned at least one online purchase in the past 12 months, plus 358 ecommerce professionals at US retailers over $500m revenue; fielded summer 2025
Debt and financial stress
Average holiday debt, among those who took any on
LendingTree — Debt taken on for the holidays, per person who took on debt
The denominator matters: this is an average across people who took on debt, not across all shoppers. Spread over everyone surveyed the figure would be roughly a third of this.
| Year | LendingTree — Debt taken on for the holidays, per person who took on debt |
|---|---|
| 2021 | $1,249 |
| 2022 | $1,549 |
| 2023 | $1,028 |
| 2024 | $1,181 |
| 2025 | $1,223 |
Share of US shoppers who took on holiday debt
LendingTree — Share of all surveyed US consumers
Remarkably steady: about a third of shoppers borrow for the holidays every year, whatever the economy does. It is the amount they borrow, above, that swings.
| Year | LendingTree — Share of all surveyed US consumers |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 36% |
| 2022 | 35% |
| 2023 | 34% |
| 2024 | 36% |
| 2025 | 37% |
Americans who took on holiday debt in 2021 took on an average of $1,249.
Average debt taken on for the holidays among those who took on debt only — not an average across all consumers; surveyed after the season, actual
Holiday debt averaged $1,549 among Americans who took it on in 2022, a 24% increase on the prior year's $1,249 and past the previous 2020 record of $1,381.
Average debt taken on for the holidays among those who took on debt only — not an average across all consumers; surveyed after the season, actual
Americans who went into debt over the 2023 holidays took on an average of $1,028.
Average debt taken on for the holidays among those who took on debt only — not an average across all consumers; surveyed after the season, actual
Those who took on holiday debt in 2024 took on an average of $1,181.
Average debt taken on for the holidays among those who took on debt only — not an average across all consumers; surveyed after the season, actual
Over a third of US consumers took on holiday debt in 2025, at an average of $1,223 each.
Average debt taken on for the holidays among those who took on debt only — not an average across all consumers; surveyed after the season, actual
28% of US holiday shoppers said they were likely to take on debt — a revolving credit-card balance or buy-now-pay-later — to fund their 2025 holiday purchases.
Self-reported likelihood asked in late July, BEFORE the season. It is an intention, not borrowing measured afterwards.
Bankrate, 2025 · 2,567 US adults, of whom 2,020 plan to shop for the holidays; fielded 28–30 July 2025 by YouGov Plc
29% of US holiday shoppers said holiday shopping would strain their budgets in 2025, and 27% were stressed about the cost.
Share of holiday shoppers reporting budget strain; the stress figure is a separate question in the same survey
Bankrate, 2025 · 2,567 US adults, of whom 2,020 plan to shop for the holidays; fielded 28–30 July 2025 by YouGov Plc
Only 24% of US holiday shoppers had budgeted for the 2025 holidays.
Share who had set a holiday budget at the time of fieldwork, 28–30 July 2025
Bankrate, 2025 · 2,567 US adults, of whom 2,020 plan to shop for the holidays; fielded 28–30 July 2025 by YouGov Plc
50% of US adults feel pressure to spend a certain amount on gifts, and half say they do not know what the "right" amount is.
A stated feeling of social pressure, not measured spending · What people say is the right amount, not what they spent
Empower, 2025 · 2,202 Americans aged 18+, surveyed 19–21 August 2025, weighted to be nationally representative
How people give: self-gifting, experiences, secondhand
37% of Americans admit they spend more on gifts than intended over the holidays, trying to impress others.
A self-reported admission in an online panel, not measured outlay · What people say is the right amount, not what they spent
Empower, 2024 · 2,000 nationally representative Americans aged 18+, surveyed 8–21 October 2024
42% of people say they regift to save money over the holidays.
Self-reported behaviour in an online panel, not observed behaviour · What people say is the right amount, not what they spent
Empower, 2024 · 2,000 nationally representative Americans aged 18+, surveyed 8–21 October 2024
48% of US adults report experiencing "gift fatigue", and six in ten say gifting culture has got out of hand.
A stated attitude in a survey weighted to be nationally representative of US adults, not a measured change in giving · What people say is the right amount, not what they spent
Empower, 2025 · 2,202 Americans aged 18+, surveyed 19–21 August 2025, weighted to be nationally representative
31% of consumers planned to give an experience as a gift in December 2025; NRF sets this against 22% in 2015.
NRF's Super Saturday wave, fielded 1–10 December 2025. It is a different instrument and a different question framing from the October spending survey, so it must never be chained to the 2023 figure below. · A similar-looking figure elsewhere measures something else
NRF, 2025 · 8,005 adult consumers, fielded 1–10 December 2025, margin of error ±1.1pp (NRF/Prosper Insights & Analytics)
23% of holiday shoppers said they planned to give a gift of experience in 2023.
NRF's October 2023 winter-holiday spending survey — a different wave and question framing from the 31% measured in December 2025, so the two are not a time series. · A similar-looking figure elsewhere measures something else
Nearly 66% of consumers say they are open to giving a secondhand item as a gift, rising to 80% of Millennials.
Openness to the idea, not a count of secondhand gifts actually given. The publisher's own wording is "nearly 66%".
ThredUp, 2025 · 2,000 consumers, surveyed by GlobalData for ThredUp
Americans spent $9.1 billion on unwanted Christmas gifts in 2023.
Measured in Finder's 2023 survey wave of 2,033 US adults. Finder's widely quoted 2024 headline is a forecast — it states it ran no 2024 survey — and is deliberately excluded here.
Finder, 2024 · 2,033 American adults in the 2023 wave, run by Qualtrics/SAP for Finder's Consumer Confidence Index; spending figures use a trimmed mean
The average unwanted Christmas gift cost $66 in 2023.
Trimmed mean per unwanted gift, 2023 survey wave — outliers removed by the publisher
Finder, 2024 · 2,033 American adults in the 2023 wave, run by Qualtrics/SAP for Finder's Consumer Confidence Index; spending figures use a trimmed mean
Germany and the UK
Two German bodies measure gift budgets with different samples and different questions, so HDE and EY land on different numbers. Both are listed; they are never blended into one sentence. For 2025 they read €263 and €259, which is close enough to look like agreement — in 2024 the same two series read €297 and €265.
German Christmas gift budget per person: two surveys
HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) — Gifts only, per person, planned
EY — Gifts only, per adult consumer, planned
Two organisations asking a near-identical question of different samples, which is why the levels differ by roughly €30 in 2024 while both fall into 2025. Neither is the German figure — cite one, name it, and note the sample.
| Year | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) — Gifts only, per person, planned | EY — Gifts only, per adult consumer, planned |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | — | €281 |
| 2021 | €273 | — |
| 2023 | €295 | — |
| 2024 | €297 | €265 |
| 2025 | €263 | €259 |
German retail expected €126.2 billion of revenue across November and December 2025 — a nominal 1.5% more than 2024, which after inflation is no growth at all.
Total retail revenue for the two months, all goods — not gifts; HDE forecast published at the start of November
Online retail accounts for €22.2 billion of the 2025 German Christmas season, a nominal 3.3% above 2024.
Online-only slice of the November–December retail total, all goods; HDE forecast
The 2024 German Christmas season was forecast at €121.4 billion in November–December retail revenue, a nominal 1.3% above 2023.
Total retail revenue for the two months, all goods — not gifts; HDE forecast
Online retail took €21.5 billion of the 2024 German Christmas season, a nominal 1.4% more than 2023.
Online-only slice of the November–December retail total, all goods; HDE forecast
November and December 2022 brought German retail €120.3 billion — 5.4% more in cash terms, but 4% less once inflation is taken out.
Total retail revenue for the two months, all goods — not gifts; HDE forecast
The 2021 German Christmas season was put at around €112 billion, 2% up on 2020.
Total retail revenue for the two months, all goods — not gifts; HDE forecast, given in the original as around 112 billion
The average German shopper planned to spend €263 on Christmas gifts in 2025 — €34 less than the year before.
Gifts only, per person, planned; HDE's sample and question
HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland), 2025 · More than 2,000 people, Handelsblatt Research Institut for HDE
In 2024 German shoppers planned €297 each for Christmas gifts — €2 more than the year before.
Gifts only, per person, planned; HDE's sample and question
HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland), 2024 · More than 2,000 people, Handelsblatt Research Institut for HDE
The 2023 reading of the same HDE series was €295 per person for Christmas gifts.
Gifts only, per person, planned; HDE's sample and question
HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland), 2023 · Handelsblatt Research Institut for HDE
In 2021 the same HDE survey put the Christmas gift budget at €273 per head.
Gifts only, per person, planned; HDE's sample and question
HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland), 2021 · Handelsblatt Research Institut for HDE
EY's 2025 survey puts the German Christmas gift budget at €259 per adult.
Gifts only, per adult consumer, planned; EY's sample and question — a different survey from HDE's, not a second reading of it
EY, 2025 · More than 1,000 adult consumers, fieldwork mid to late October 2025
EY measured €265 per adult for Christmas gifts in 2024 — €15 more than in 2023.
Gifts only, per adult consumer, planned; EY's sample and question — a different survey from HDE's, not a second reading of it
EY, 2024 · More than 1,000 adult consumers, fieldwork end of October / start of November 2024
The high-water mark of the EY series is €281 per adult, reached in 2019 and again in 2020; nothing since has come close.
Gifts only, per adult consumer, planned; EY's sample and question — the series record, restated in EY's 2024 release
German families with children planned €332 for Christmas gifts in 2025, €27 (8%) below the €359 of 2024.
Gifts only, per adult, planned, families-with-children subgroup; EY's sample and question
EY, 2025 · More than 1,000 adult consumers, fieldwork mid to late October 2025
Germans planned €1.05 billion of Mother's Day gifts in 2026.
Total retail gift spend for the occasion; HDE survey of around 500 people
HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland), 2026 · Population-representative survey of around 500 people
Spread across the whole German population, Mother's Day 2026 works out at €18.72 a head, down from €19.26 in 2025.
Per head of the whole population, not per gift-buyer — so it is far below any per-buyer figure; HDE survey · A similar-looking figure elsewhere measures something else
HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland), 2026 · Population-representative survey of around 500 people
Valentine's Day added €1.3 billion to German retail in 2025, up from around €1 billion in 2020.
Additional retail revenue around the occasion, all goods; HDE survey of 1,500 people
HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland), 2025 · 1,500 people
German retail expected €2.1 billion from Easter 2026, 6.5% less than a year earlier.
Total Easter retail revenue, all goods including food and decorations; HDE forecast
HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland), 2026 · 500 consumers in Germany
Easter 2026 comes to €38 a head in Germany, with just over 40% of consumers planning to spend anything at all.
Per head of population, whole occasion including food and decorations — not a per-gift figure; HDE forecast · A similar-looking figure elsewhere measures something else
HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland), 2026 · 500 consumers in Germany
UK consumers were forecast to spend £24.6 billion on the 2025 festive season, 3.5% above the £23.7 billion of 2024.
Presents AND celebrations including food and drink — not a gifts-only total; PwC survey of 2,000 adults
PwC UK, 2025 · Nationally representative survey of 2,000 UK adults, fieldwork 31 October – 4 November 2025
Festive spending per UK adult was forecast at £461 for 2025, up from £449 a year earlier.
Presents AND celebrations including food and drink, per adult — food and drink is PwC's top spending priority, so this is not comparable with the German gifts-only budgets
PwC UK, 2025 · Nationally representative survey of 2,000 UK adults, fieldwork 31 October – 4 November 2025
Most Austrians set themselves a Christmas gift budget of €100 to €500; the most common single band is €200 to €349, chosen by 22%.
Budget bands for gifts in AUSTRIA, not Germany; Deloitte Austria publishes the distribution and no average — do not compute one
Deloitte Österreich, 2025 · Representative survey of around 500 consumers in Austria
Every statistic on this page
Showing 145 of 145 statistics
| What it measures | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| $890.49 | 2025 | Gifts plus seasonal items, per person, planned | NRF |
| $902 | 2024 | Gifts plus seasonal items, per person, planned; NRF publishes 2024 rounded to whole dollars | NRF |
| $875 | 2023 | Gifts plus seasonal items, per person, planned | NRF |
| $832.84 | 2022 | Gifts plus seasonal items, per person, planned; the first season on NRF's current two-bucket definition, so it is not comparable with NRF figures before 2022, which also counted non-gift purchases for oneself | NRF |
| $627.93 | 2025 | Gifts for family and friends only, per person, planned — the gift subset of NRF's $890.49 total, not a separate survey | NRF |
| $641 | 2024 | Gifts only, per person, planned; NRF states it as “approximately $641”, not an exact figure | NRF |
| $620 | 2023 | Gifts only, per person, planned; NRF states it as “approximately $620”, not an exact figure | NRF |
| $886.7bn | 2021 | Core retail sales for November–December, actual, excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants; the as-first-reported vintage from NRF's January 2022 release — NRF later restated the same season to $889.3 billion | NRF |
| $936.3bn | 2022 | Core retail sales for November–December, actual, excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants; the as-first-reported vintage from NRF's January 2023 release — NRF later restated the same season to $929.5 billion | NRF |
| $964.4bn | 2023 | Core retail sales for November–December, actual, excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants; the as-first-reported vintage from NRF's January 2024 release — NRF later restated the same season to $955.6 billion | NRF |
| $994.1bn | 2024 | Core retail sales for November–December, actual, excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants; the as-first-reported vintage from NRF's January 2025 release — NRF's own Winter Holiday FAQ page now carries $976.1 billion for the same season | NRF |
| $976.1bn | 2024 | Core retail sales for November–December, actual; the later NRF vintage of the 2024 season. The $994.1bn and $976.1bn figures are one season published twice, never two years of one series | NRF |
| $942 | 2019 | Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's October read | Gallup |
| $805 | 2020 | Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's October read | Gallup |
| $837 | 2021 | Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's October read | Gallup |
| $932 | 2022 | Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's October read | Gallup |
| $923 | 2023 | Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's October read | Gallup |
| $1,014 | 2024 | Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's October read | Gallup |
| $1,007 | 2025 | Christmas and other holiday gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's early-October read of the 2025 season, superseded by its own November read | Gallup |
| $975 | 2023 | Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's mid-season November read, a separate series from its October read | Gallup |
| $1,012 | 2024 | Christmas gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's mid-season November read, a separate series from its October read | Gallup |
| $778 | 2025 | Christmas and other holiday gifts only, per person, self-estimate; Gallup's November read of the same 2025 season it first measured at $1,007 in October. Both ends of the revision are published here | Gallup |
| $814 | 2024 | Gifts only, per consumer, planned — excludes travel and entertainment, which PwC reports separately | PwC |
| $721 | 2025 | Gifts only, per consumer, planned; PwC's June read of the 2025 season, which it revised UP to $770 in October — the opposite direction to Gallup's November cut in the same season | PwC |
| $770 | 2025 | Gifts only, per consumer, planned; PwC's October re-read of the 2025 season. Both ends of the revision are published here, and it runs upward while Gallup's revision of the same season runs down | PwC |
| $708 | 2026 | Gifts only, per consumer, planned; PwC's June read of the 2026 season, with no October revision published as of September 2026 | PwC |
| $1,652 | 2023 | Gifts, experiences and non-gift purchases (hosting, clothing, décor) per surveyed consumer, planned — not a gifts-only figure; Deloitte fields in late August and early September, earlier than NRF or Gallup | Deloitte |
| $1,778 | 2024 | Gifts, experiences and non-gift purchases (hosting, clothing, décor) per surveyed consumer, planned — not a gifts-only figure; Deloitte fields in late August and early September, earlier than NRF or Gallup | Deloitte |
| $1,595 | 2025 | Gifts, experiences and non-gift purchases (hosting, clothing, décor) per surveyed consumer, planned — not a gifts-only figure; Deloitte fields in late August and early September, earlier than NRF or Gallup | Deloitte |
| — | 2025 | Total US holiday retail sales, forecast, for NOVEMBER TO JANUARY — a longer window than NRF, Bain and Adobe, which all measure November to December, so this figure never belongs beside their roughly $1 trillion season totals | Deloitte |
| $1,249 | 2021 | Average debt taken on for the holidays among those who took on debt only — not an average across all consumers; surveyed after the season, actual | LendingTree |
| $1,549 | 2022 | Average debt taken on for the holidays among those who took on debt only — not an average across all consumers; surveyed after the season, actual | LendingTree |
| $1,028 | 2023 | Average debt taken on for the holidays among those who took on debt only — not an average across all consumers; surveyed after the season, actual | LendingTree |
| $1,181 | 2024 | Average debt taken on for the holidays among those who took on debt only — not an average across all consumers; surveyed after the season, actual | LendingTree |
| $1,223 | 2025 | Average debt taken on for the holidays among those who took on debt only — not an average across all consumers; surveyed after the season, actual | LendingTree |
| 36% | 2021 | Share of all surveyed US consumers who took on any holiday debt; surveyed after the season, actual — a different denominator from the average-debt figure, which counts borrowers only | LendingTree |
| 35% | 2022 | Share of all surveyed US consumers who took on any holiday debt; surveyed after the season, actual — a different denominator from the average-debt figure, which counts borrowers only | LendingTree |
| 34% | 2023 | Share of all surveyed US consumers who took on any holiday debt; surveyed after the season, actual — a different denominator from the average-debt figure, which counts borrowers only | LendingTree |
| 36% | 2024 | Share of all surveyed US consumers who took on any holiday debt; surveyed after the season, actual — a different denominator from the average-debt figure, which counts borrowers only | LendingTree |
| 37% | 2025 | Share of all surveyed US consumers who took on any holiday debt; surveyed after the season, actual — a different denominator from the average-debt figure, which counts borrowers only | LendingTree |
| $199.78 | 2026 | Gifts only, per person celebrating, planned spending reported before the occasion | NRF |
| $29.1bn | 2026 | Total expected US consumer spending on the occasion, all categories, not per person | NRF |
| 55% | 2026 | Share of US consumers planning to celebrate — the population the $199.78 per-person figure is averaged over | NRF |
| $195.59 | 2026 | The whole occasion per person celebrating — candy, food, clothing and decorations included. It is not a per-gift figure: NRF puts the gift slice of Easter at $3.9 billion of the $24.9 billion total. | NRF |
| $24.9bn | 2026 | Total expected US consumer spending on the whole occasion — food $7.5bn, gifts $3.9bn, clothing $3.7bn, candy $3.5bn, flowers $2.2bn | NRF |
| 80% | 2026 | Share of US consumers planning to celebrate — the population the $195.59 per-person figure is averaged over | NRF |
| $284.25 | 2026 | Whole occasion, per person celebrating, planned | NRF |
| $38bn | 2026 | Total expected US consumer spending on the occasion — jewellery $7.5bn, special outings $6.4bn, electronics $4.4bn, flowers $3.2bn, greeting cards $1.3bn | NRF |
| 84% | 2026 | Share of US adults planning to celebrate — the population the $284.25 per-person figure is averaged over | NRF |
| $226.58 | 2026 | Whole occasion, per person celebrating, planned spending reported before the occasion | NRF |
| $27.9bn | 2026 | Total expected US consumer spending on the occasion, all categories, not per person | NRF |
| 77% | 2026 | Share of US consumers planning to celebrate — the population the $226.58 per-person figure is averaged over | NRF |
| $7.2bn | 2026 | Total expected US spending on gifts for high school and college graduates. NRF publishes no quotable per-person average for graduation: the hub page states only the total and the participation share. | NRF |
| 39% | 2026 | Share of survey respondents planning to buy a graduation gift — gift-buyers, not people attending a ceremony | NRF |
| $114.45 | 2025 | The whole occasion per person celebrating — costumes, candy and decorations included, not gifts. NRF had published no 2026 Halloween figure as of 2026-09-17, so 2025 is the latest. | NRF |
| $13.1bn | 2025 | Total expected US consumer spending on the whole occasion — costumes $4.3bn, decorations $4.2bn, candy $3.9bn, greeting cards $0.7bn | NRF |
| 73% | 2025 | Share of US consumers planning to celebrate — the population the $114.45 per-person figure is averaged over | NRF |
| $55.65 | 2025 | What US adults say the going rate for one adult birthday gift is — a stated norm, not measured outlay | Empower |
| $83.03 | 2025 | What US adults say the going rate for one child's birthday gift is — a stated norm, not measured outlay | Empower |
| $64.1 | 2025 | What US adults say the going rate for one holiday gift is, per recipient — a stated norm, not measured outlay, and not comparable with NRF's whole-season per-person total | Empower |
| $85.18 | 2025 | What a nationally representative panel of US adults says a wedding gift should cost — a stated norm, not measured outlay, and a different population from the wedding-platform guest studies (The Knot $150, Zola $130). Never averaged with them. | Empower |
| $15 | 2025 | What US adults say the going rate for one teacher or coach gift is — a stated norm, not measured outlay | Empower |
| $50.69 | 2025 | What US adults say the going rate for one Valentine's Day gift is — a stated norm, not measured outlay, and per gift rather than per person celebrating | Empower |
| $55.25 | 2025 | What US adults say the going rate for one Mother's Day gift is — a stated norm, not measured outlay | Empower |
| $38.48 | 2025 | What US adults say the going rate for one Father's Day gift is — a stated norm, not measured outlay | Empower |
| $150 | 2026 | Average amount one guest spent on one wedding gift, among The Knot's wedding-platform audience. The Knot states neither a study year nor a sample size; 2026 is when its page was last updated. A different population from Zola's $130 and Empower's $85.18. | The Knot |
| $130 | 2026 | Average spend per guest, among Zola's wedding-platform audience (2026 First Look Report, over 11,500 couples marrying in 2026). The figure appears on Zola's advice page attributed to the report, not in the report itself, so that page is the source cited. A different population from The Knot's $150 and Empower's $85.18. | Zola |
| $50 | 2025 | Median reported tip among people who tip that role, not a mean and not an average per household | Bankrate |
| $48 | 2025 | Median reported tip among people who tip that role, not a mean and not an average per household | Bankrate |
| $50 | 2025 | Median reported tip among people who tip that role, not a mean and not an average per household | Bankrate |
| $25 | 2025 | Median reported tip among people who tip that role, not a mean and not an average per household | Bankrate |
| $20 | 2025 | Median reported tip among people who tip that role, not a mean and not an average per household | Bankrate |
| $25 | 2025 | Median reported tip among people who tip that role, not a mean and not an average per household | Bankrate |
| $546.88 | 2024 | The Consumer Expenditure Survey line "Other cash gifts", mean annual dollars per consumer unit (household) — not per person and not per gift. The CE detailed tables publish no "gifts of goods and services" aggregate, so this is the nearest published gift line; the 2022 value is suppressed by BLS for a relative standard error of 25% or more. | BLS |
| $85.57 | 2024 | The Consumer Expenditure Survey diary line "Stationery, stationery supplies, and gift wrap", mean annual dollars per consumer unit (household) — wrapping and cards, not the gifts inside them | BLS |
| 17% | 2025 | The share of holiday SALES expected to come back — an absolute return rate. It is not NRF's separate 2024 figure for how much higher the holiday rate runs than the annual rate. | NRF |
| 17% | 2024 | A RELATIVE uplift of the holiday return rate over a retailer's own annual rate (16.9% in 2024). It is not a share of holiday sales, and not another year of the 2025 absolute rate. | NRF |
| $849.9bn | 2025 | Full-year value of returned merchandise across all US retail, from retailer estimates. No primary publishes a holiday-only dollar total. | NRF |
| 15.8% | 2025 | Returns as a share of ANNUAL retail sales, all channels together | NRF |
| 19.3% | 2025 | Returns as a share of ONLINE sales only. NRF publishes no separate in-store rate, so no in-store counterpart can be quoted. | NRF |
| 9% | 2025 | Share of returns, not of sales; retailer-reported | NRF |
| $890bn | 2024 | Full-year value of returned merchandise across all US retail, 2024 wave | NRF |
| 16.9% | 2024 | Returns as a share of annual retail sales — the baseline the 2024 holiday uplift is measured against | NRF |
| 51% | 2024 | Gen Z only. NRF publishes no all-consumer bracketing figure; its 2025 wave reports only a combined "costly returns behavior" share. | NRF |
| 82% | 2025 | Importance when shopping online, 2025 wording. NRF's 2024 question asked instead about "deciding where to shop" and read 76%, so the two are separate data points and not a trend. | NRF |
| 50% | 2025 | Share naming gift cards on a multi-select wish-list question. Both years come from the same NRF/Prosper October instrument, so they are comparable. | NRF |
| $29bn | 2025 | Winter-holiday season only. This is not an all-year US gift-card market size; no primary publishes one with methodology. | NRF |
| 43% | 2025 | Share buying at least one card — a different question from the 50% who say they would like to receive one | NRF |
| $58 | 2025 | Spend per card among over-65 buyers only, not per person and not across all ages | NRF |
| 43% | 2024 | Share of all US adults holding any unredeemed balance | Bankrate |
| $244 | 2024 | Mean unredeemed value per person who holds one. Bankrate publishes no national total, so this cannot be scaled into one. | Bankrate |
| 34% | 2024 | Share of gift-card holders, not of all US adults | Bankrate |
| 39% | 2025 | Share of the stated holiday gift budget on Blackhawk Network's own consumer panel. It answers a different question from NRF's dollar total and the two never share an axis. | Blackhawk Network |
| 42% | 2025 | Question asked: plan to begin browsing AND buying before November. NRF/Prosper, 8,247 adults, fielded 1–7 October 2025. Not comparable with Blackhawk's 34% or Bankrate's 49%. | NRF |
| 45% | 2024 | Same NRF/Prosper October instrument and fieldwork window as the 2025 reading, so these two years are comparable with each other — and with nothing else on this page. | NRF |
| 49% | 2025 | Question asked: begin shopping before the end of October, put to the 2,020 respondents who plan to shop at all, fielded 28–30 July 2025 — months earlier than NRF's October fieldwork and on a different panel. | Bankrate |
| 34% | 2025 | Question asked: start before November, put to all consumers in Blackhawk Network's own panel of over 2,100. A different instrument from NRF's, which read 42% for the same season. | Blackhawk Network |
| 60% | 2025 | Month in which shoppers expect to finish, asked in early October | NRF |
| 63% | 2025 | Share waiting for the Thanksgiving-to-Cyber-Monday window for the MAJORITY of purchases, not for any purchase | NRF |
| 51% | 2025 | Average share of one person's holiday shopping already done, measured 1–10 December 2025 — not the share of people who had finished | NRF |
| 28% | 2025 | Self-reported likelihood asked in late July, BEFORE the season. It is an intention, not borrowing measured afterwards. | Bankrate |
| 29% | 2025 | Share of holiday shoppers reporting budget strain; the stress figure is a separate question in the same survey | Bankrate |
| 24% | 2025 | Share who had set a holiday budget at the time of fieldwork, 28–30 July 2025 | Bankrate |
| 50% | 2025 | A stated feeling of social pressure, not measured spending | Empower |
| 33% | 2024 | A self-reported plan and a stated amount. Self-gifting is not an NRF statistic: NRF's holiday releases split spend into gifts and seasonal items only. | Empower |
| 37% | 2024 | A self-reported admission in an online panel, not measured outlay | Empower |
| 42% | 2024 | Self-reported behaviour in an online panel, not observed behaviour | Empower |
| 48% | 2025 | A stated attitude in a survey weighted to be nationally representative of US adults, not a measured change in giving | Empower |
| 31% | 2025 | NRF's Super Saturday wave, fielded 1–10 December 2025. It is a different instrument and a different question framing from the October spending survey, so it must never be chained to the 2023 figure below. | NRF |
| 23% | 2023 | NRF's October 2023 winter-holiday spending survey — a different wave and question framing from the 31% measured in December 2025, so the two are not a time series. | NRF |
| 40% | 2025 | Share of the stated holiday budget on a ThredUp/GlobalData panel of 2,000 consumers. The publisher's own wording is "nearly 40%". | ThredUp |
| 66% | 2025 | Openness to the idea, not a count of secondhand gifts actually given. The publisher's own wording is "nearly 66%". | ThredUp |
| $9.1bn | 2023 | Measured in Finder's 2023 survey wave of 2,033 US adults. Finder's widely quoted 2024 headline is a forecast — it states it ran no 2024 survey — and is deliberately excluded here. | Finder |
| $66 | 2023 | Trimmed mean per unwanted gift, 2023 survey wave — outliers removed by the publisher | Finder |
| 17% | 2023 | Share of adults receiving any unwanted gift, measured in the 2023 survey wave. Unrelated to NRF's 17% return rate, which is a share of sales. | Finder |
| €126.2bn | 2025 | Total retail revenue for the two months, all goods — not gifts; HDE forecast published at the start of November | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| €22.2bn | 2025 | Online-only slice of the November–December retail total, all goods; HDE forecast | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| €121.4bn | 2024 | Total retail revenue for the two months, all goods — not gifts; HDE forecast | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| €21.5bn | 2024 | Online-only slice of the November–December retail total, all goods; HDE forecast | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| €120.3bn | 2022 | Total retail revenue for the two months, all goods — not gifts; HDE forecast | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| €112bn | 2021 | Total retail revenue for the two months, all goods — not gifts; HDE forecast, given in the original as around 112 billion | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| €263 | 2025 | Gifts only, per person, planned; HDE's sample and question | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| €297 | 2024 | Gifts only, per person, planned; HDE's sample and question | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| €295 | 2023 | Gifts only, per person, planned; HDE's sample and question | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| €273 | 2021 | Gifts only, per person, planned; HDE's sample and question | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| €259 | 2025 | Gifts only, per adult consumer, planned; EY's sample and question — a different survey from HDE's, not a second reading of it | EY |
| €265 | 2024 | Gifts only, per adult consumer, planned; EY's sample and question — a different survey from HDE's, not a second reading of it | EY |
| €281 | 2019 | Gifts only, per adult consumer, planned; EY's sample and question — the series record, restated in EY's 2024 release | EY |
| €332 | 2025 | Gifts only, per adult, planned, families-with-children subgroup; EY's sample and question | EY |
| 48% | 2025 | Share of respondents intending to give the category; EY's sample and question | EY |
| 36% | 2025 | Share of respondents intending to give the category; EY's sample and question | EY |
| €1.05bn | 2026 | Total retail gift spend for the occasion; HDE survey of around 500 people | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| €18.72 | 2026 | Per head of the whole population, not per gift-buyer — so it is far below any per-buyer figure; HDE survey | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| €1.3bn | 2025 | Additional retail revenue around the occasion, all goods; HDE survey of 1,500 people | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| 28% | 2025 | Share of all consumers planning any Valentine's purchase, not only gift-buyers; HDE survey | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| €2.1bn | 2026 | Total Easter retail revenue, all goods including food and decorations; HDE forecast | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| €38 | 2026 | Per head of population, whole occasion including food and decorations — not a per-gift figure; HDE forecast | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| 39% | 2025 | Share who have ever done it; the 53% answers a separate question about intent; Appinio survey for HDE | HDE (Handelsverband Deutschland) |
| £24.6bn | 2025 | Presents AND celebrations including food and drink — not a gifts-only total; PwC survey of 2,000 adults | PwC UK |
| £461 | 2025 | Presents AND celebrations including food and drink, per adult — food and drink is PwC's top spending priority, so this is not comparable with the German gifts-only budgets | PwC UK |
| 64% | 2025 | Share of intended festive purchases, from a consumer survey — a Christmas basket, not the ONS's share of all December retail value | PwC UK |
| 28.3% | 2025 | Share of all December retail sales value, official statistics — the whole economy's till roll, not an intended Christmas basket | ONS |
| — | 2025 | Budget bands for gifts in AUSTRIA, not Germany; Deloitte Austria publishes the distribution and no average — do not compute one | Deloitte Österreich |
| 46% | 2025 | Purchase channel for gifts in AUSTRIA, not Germany; Deloitte Austria survey of around 500 consumers | Deloitte Österreich |
| 28% | 2025 | Direction of change for the gifts line only, AUSTRIA — not Germany, and not a spending amount; Deloitte Austria survey | Deloitte Österreich |
How to cite a figure from this page
Every statistic has its own anchor: click the source line under any figure and your address bar holds a link straight to it. Cite the original publisher, not this page — each entry links to the press release or research PDF it came from. If you quote a planned-spending figure, say which month it was measured in; Gallup's 2025 October and November reads differ by $229.
Methodology
This page compiles publicly available statistics from named organisations — we run no consumer surveys of our own. Every figure links directly to the publisher's own press release or research page rather than a news write-up, and carries the source name and year next to the claim. Surveys use different samples, questions and definitions, so figures from different publishers are not automatically comparable; where that matters we say so beside the number instead of quietly blending them. Figures marked as restated, derived or a stated norm are labelled as such.
The 2026 holiday surveys land between mid-October and early November, and this page is refreshed when they do. If a source updates or retracts a figure, or you spot an error, let us know and we will fix it.