04
November
2005
|
00:00
Europe/Amsterdam

Welsh set to splash out this Christmas

The people of Wales are more likely than average to be big spenders this Christmas and tend to favour credit more than other parts of the UK according to research from credit report service MyCallcredit.

Its research shows 7.8 per cent of Welsh folk say they'll spend £1,000 or more this Christmas compared to 5.4 per cent nationally and 9.5 per cent will put the cost on credit against 8 per cent nationally.

Overall, six out of ten people (62%) thought Christmas would cost less than £500 compared to 57.3 per cent across the UK while 28.4 per cent said they would spend between £500 and £1,000 against 29.4 per cent nationwide.

The vast majority won't borrow to fund the cost of Christmas with 34.2 per cent saying their costs will be covered from savings (35.6 per cent across the UK) and 53 per cent saying it will come from normal monthly income compared to an average of 52.7 per cent. Only 2.2 per cent of Welsh people admitted they didn't know how they were going to fund the festivities.

Of those people in Wales who will use credit 76.5 per cent were confident it would be repaid within three months compared to 67 per cent across the UK.

Consumer affairs director Mel Mitchley says:

"Christmas is often a time when people can feel pressure to spend more than they can afford but our research shows people in Wales have, by and large, got their Christmas costs under control.

"The vast majority of people in Wales have saved and budgeted and won't overspend this Christmas which means they can look forward to the New Year without worrying about their debts."

Key Findings
  • Southerners were more likely to use credit than any other region of the UK with 12.9 per cent saying some of their Christmas spending would be on credit.
  • East Anglians were the least likely to pay for Christmas using credit 4.3 per cent against a national average of 8 per cent.
  • People in Lancashire were most likely to pay for Christmas from savings (44.1%) while people in the South were least likely to use savings to cover festive costs (23.5%). Nationally 35.6 per cent of people said savings would pay for Christmas.
Editors Notes
  1. The research was carried out by NEMS market research among 1000 adults for MyCallcredit between 28 October and 2 November 2005.