A quarter of UK adults plan to buy themselves a Christmas present this year

Almost one in four UK adults are planning on buying themselves a Christmas present because they think they “deserve a treat.”

A customer browses some of the festive items in the Christmas gift and decoration section (Getty Images)

Almost a quarter of adults plan to buy a Christmas present for themselves this year because they don’t expect many gifts from others and think they deserve a treat.  

A study of 2,000 Brits found 12 per cent are planning to splash out on their own games console while 15 per cent want to reward themselves with some new clothes to boost their mood.

Others are going to buy themselves make-up (10 per cent), a laptop (12 per cent) and a mobile phone (14 per cent).

But while almost half think they simply deserve a treat, 29 per cent are not expecting many gifts from others.

And 22 per cent would rather buy something for themselves than ask others to get it as a present.

The research, commissioned by centre:mk, revealed the average adult also plans to buy Christmas presents for eight people.

Kim Priest at centre:mk said: “Given the year that everybody has had, it is interesting to see so many people are planning to buy themselves a gift this Christmas, as well as for their friends and family.

“This self-gifting trend will bring positivity to many who feel they deserve a treat as they have indulged less during this extraordinary year."

The study also found 61 per cent will be buying a present for their partner, 51 per cent for their children, 49 per cent for their mums and 38 per cent for their dads.

Christmas gifts for sale (Getty Images)

The most popular gifts on people’s shopping lists included perfume or aftershave, candles and skincare, with chocolates, alcohol and books topping the list.

It also emerged that despite the financial worries, the amount of money people plan to spend has only decreased by £11 – with an average of £347 being forked out this year, compared to £358 in 2019. But more than half of those polled via OnePoll have already started their shopping, with 26 per cent admitting this is earlier than usual.

An organised 16 per cent hope to finish their gift buying as early as four weeks before the big day – November 27th – while 21 per cent realistically plan to complete it with just one week to spare by December 18th.

The study also found that almost a third feel Christmas is more important to them than ever this year and 30 per cent are more ‘emotional’ about the festive season than usual.

Kim added: “Our research has revealed that a third of participants feel that Christmas is more important than ever to them this year."

SWNS