At Christmas, people are generous with everyday life, despite the significant increase in prices – but according to a survey, budgets for gifts are shrinking significantly.
At least a third (32.9 percent) of the 2,046 adults surveyed by the market research institute YouGov on behalf of Postbank are planning lower spending than in the previous year. Almost one in five (18.6 percent) say they don’t want to or can’t spend any money on Christmas presents.
The majority (53.6 percent) expect spending on the festival to be similar to the previous year. Almost 10 percent intend to spend more money on gifts. The majority of gift givers (almost 43 percent) invest 100 to 400 euros in Christmas presents, while a quarter spend less than 100 euros on them.
A third of those surveyed (32 percent) have to tap into savings, and 14.5 percent use their Christmas money for shopping. The representative data was collected from November 7th to 10th.
Almost one in five people buy gifts exclusively online
Anyone who buys gifts often does so with a click of the mouse in online shops, as a survey by the digital association Bitkom in October and November showed: Three out of four consumers (73 percent) are ordering Christmas presents online this year. 17 percent shop exclusively online, and another 22 percent get most of their gifts online.
But there are also fans of stationary retail: 15 percent of the 1,002 participants in the Bitkom survey say they only go to the store for Christmas shopping. In this survey, ten percent also say that they are planning to celebrate without presents this year.
Inflation worries many people
The fact that money is no longer so easy for many people is also due to the general price development: Food in Germany has become more expensive by more than a third (37 percent) since the pre-Corona year of 2019. The prices for many services have also been rising above average for months – these include car insurance, package holidays and visits to the hairdresser and restaurants. In November, as in October, consumer prices in this country were 2.3 percent higher than in the same month last year.
When asked which expenses currently worry them most, six out of ten respondents in the Postbank survey (61.3 percent) referred to the general cost of living. In addition, a good third (35.8 percent) currently rate their own financial situation worse than in the comparison survey a year ago.
Rising real wages: Many people have more money in their pockets again
The burden of the exceptionally high inflation in 2022 (6.9 percent) and 2023 (5.9 percent) continues to have an impact, Ulrich Stephan classifies the results. The chief investment strategist for private and corporate customers at Deutsche Bank, to which Postbank belongs, says: “The high cost of living determines everyday life for many people – and it weighs on the mood, even though real wages and the labor market are actually sending positive signals.”
In the third quarter of 2025, real wages – i.e. gross wages minus inflation – rose by 2.7 percent compared to the same period last year. According to the Federal Statistical Office, this was the highest increase so far this year. According to calculations by the trade union Hans Böckler Foundation, real wages have made up for the losses in purchasing power in recent years.