03
November
2005
|
00:00
Europe/Amsterdam

Yorkshire folk last of the big spenders this Christmas

Residents of Yorkshire are less likely than any other region to splash out this Christmas and also less likely than average to put festive costs on credit according to research from credit report service MyCallcredit.

Its research shows only 0.9 per cent of Yorkshire folk say they will spend more than £1,000 compared to 5.4 per cent nationally.

One in three people in Yorkshire (35.4%) will pay for Christmas from savings and one in two (53.5%) will cover the cost from monthly income. Less than one in ten (6.5% against a national average of 8%) will use credit to fund their festivities and 1.7 per cent admit they haven't a clue how they will pay for Christmas.

Of those people in Yorkshire who do use credit all of them said it would be paid off within six months.

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 Yorkshire have, by and large, got their Christmas costs under control.

"The vast majority of people in Yorkshire 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.
  • 12.9 per cent of Yorkshire folk said they didn't know how much Christmas will cost this year compared to 6.9 per cent nationally.
  • 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.