Christmas is the most pressure-packed time in the calendar for Poles’ wallets. Expenditure includes groceries, gifts, and often also the commute to the family, i.e. additional fuel costs. As every year, the Polish Bank Association (ZBP) decided to ask Poles about the financing of Christmas, but also bankers about the observed interest in loans.

According to the survey, commissioned by ZBP and conducted by research firm Minds&Roses, a statistical Pole is planning to spend on average nominally PLN 1490 during the upcoming Christmas. This is slightly more than the Christmas spending declared in a similar survey last year (PLN 1427). This is definitely the impact of falling inflation. The CSO’s reading of the consumer price index (CPI) was 6.6 % in October compared to the level recorded in the corresponding period in 2022.

The largest part of Christmas spending (on average, nominally PLN 607) is made up of groceries and the organisation of Christmas. In this category, declared expenses rose by 3.8 % year on year. On average, they will spend PLN 565 on presents for our nearest and dearest – nominally as much as 13 % more than in the previous year, while on Christmas travel and commuting they will spend PLN 318 on average – 7 % less than last year. However, they are average values.

“Like in previous years, the vast majority (86%) of Poles will finance their Christmas spending from their current income. The percentage of people declaring that they would finance Christmas spending from savings fell slightly. At the same time, for 30% of those surveyed, current income will not be sufficient to fully cover all Christmas expenses. They assume that to realise their Christmas plans, they will have to draw on their accumulated savings or support themselves with a loan”, says Dr Przemysław Barbrich, director of the ZBP’s Communication and PR Team.

Adrian Andrzejewski