France is the northern European country that cares least about Christmas

Only 37 per cent pf people in France are looking forward to the festive season

(Statista)

The UK may have produced Ebenezer Scrooge – but it’s French residents who are most likely to say “Bah, humbug!” to Christmas.

France is the northern European country least likely to get excited about the festive period, according to a chart from Statista, which was compiled using data collected by YouGov.

When asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement “I am looking forward to Christmas this year”, over half (57 per cent) of respondents in France said they weren’t getting excited for Santa’s arrival.

This was a far higher than the percentage in any of the other six countries included in the graphic, where the majority of people agreed with the statement.

In the UK, only 25 per cent of people said they weren’t looking forward to Christmas.

According to YouGov, the French’s lack of festive cheer could be due to concerns about the country’s weak economic growth, anxiety about immigration and discontent with the government. However, these problems also exist in some of the other countries.

Overall, respondents in every country said spending time with friends and family was the most exciting aspect of Christmas. Celebrating the birth of Jesus was ranked sixth.