Americans, Europeans pinch pennies in 2023 Christmas season

Homeless people are pictured in San Francisco, California, the United States, Dec. 23, 2023. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua)

Two-thirds of Americans making less than 50,000 U.S. dollars a year reported holiday shopping cutbacks, a significant jump from 2022. Europeans are likewise reducing their Christmas spending across the Atlantic.

NEW YORK/BRUSSELS, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Santa Clause did not appear in front of all children's beds or trees on Christmas Eve in the United States and Europe this year.

Prices are slightly lower in retail stores across the United States this holiday season, following two years of high inflation. Customers, on the other hand, are less thrilled.

According to a Monmouth University survey released on Thursday, 55 percent of respondents planned to shorten their holiday shopping lists, a 9 percent rise from previous years.

People making less than 50,000 U.S. dollars a year are the most sensitive to prices. Two-thirds of this group reported holiday shopping cutbacks, a significant jump from 2022 when 48 percent said the same.

According to government data, prices of some physical goods are starting to head down. Toys are almost 3 percent cheaper this Christmas season, and sports equipment nearly 2 percent down from last year.

Nonetheless, most groceries and services are still more expensive than they were a year ago, let alone compared to pre-pandemic prices. A dozen eggs, for example, are around 50 cents more expensive than they were in February 2020.

Consumer demand in the United States has weakened after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates several times since last year in an effort to bring down rocketing inflation.

Retailer reports in recent months showed more and more shoppers have traded down to cheaper items or looked to sales before buying -- a situation that could escalate if the economy continues to soften next year.

Meanwhile, Europeans are likewise reducing their Christmas spending across the Atlantic.

People visit a Christmas market in The Hague, the Netherlands, Dec. 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Xiangjiang)

Customers and shopkeepers in France were both depressed.

According to a study published on Nov. 30 by the French charitable group Dons Solidaires, 37 percent of French people are concerned about being unable to buy gifts for Christmas, after the index increased from 30 percent in 2021 to 34 percent in 2022.

Normally in the last four weeks of a year, large food merchants earn 9 percent of their annual turnover, while perfumes 20 percent and toy stores 30 percent, according to consulting firm Kantar Worldpanel.

However, data by market research firm NPD at the beginning of December showed the toy market had decreased by 10 percent this season. According to market research firm GFK, the consumer electronics market was down 5.7 percent year-on-year as of Dec. 10.

Second-hand markets appear more appealing to French holiday buyers. The NPD projected second-hand clothes could represent a turnover of 6 billion euros (6.62 billion U.S. dollars), with second-hand toys 7 percent of sales in 2025.

Even as Europeans celebrate Christmas, the ghost of inflation is flying over them.

According to a Guardian investigation, the price of poultry in Britain is up 5 percent from last year and 30 percent from 2020, meaning more expensive meals for households this year.

In Ireland and France, poultry costs almost a quarter more than three years ago. In Germany, the price is marginally lower than last year, but 43 percent higher than it was in the run-up to the 2020 holiday season.

In parts of Eastern Europe, carp is the heart of a Christmas feast. This year, this tradition costs much more than it used to: the prices of fishes in Hungary and Poland have jumped more than 60 percent from the same period of 2020. Fish prices in the Czech Republic haven't risen so steeply, but still 16 percent higher than three years ago.

Things don't get better for vegetarians in Europe. Vegetable prices in the EU and Britain have surged almost 30 percent on average since 2020, while in Spain the cost has risen 13 percent since last year.