Christmas shoppers to splurge £91bn as retail sales set to rise 3.2%

With the countdown to Christmas now underway, it is estimated that Brits are set to spend £91.12 billion this year, with a 3.2% rise in sales across the six-week festive period, from mid-November to the end of December.

That’s according to new research carried out by GlobalData on behalf of VoucherCodes.co.uk, which saw a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK consumers surveyed for the voucher website’s Shopping for Christmas Report 2025.

Online sales are expected to see double the growth of offline sales, at 4.7% and 2.3% respectively. However, despite online shopping’s impressive growth, almost two thirds of all Christmas retail spend will take place in stores (62.7%), accounting for £57.1 billion of total spending across the festive period, while online sales are expected to total £34 billion.

With almost half of UK consumers planning to make a festive purchase in a supermarket (48%) and a further 40% heading to the high street, bricks-and-mortar retailers should be able to look forward to a merry Christmas.

What’s more, the UK is set to outperform all other major European countries with the total spend £16.34 billion higher than Germany’s, the second highest performing nation (£74.78 billion).

But, when looking into the growth rate, Spain is expected to take the lead with sales up 3.8% year-on-year - just exceeding the UK’s 3.2% growth rate.

In terms of categories, this year UK consumers are expected to spend the most on Christmas gifts, with £11.59 billion set to be spent on presents alone (+2.1% year-on-year), equating to an average of £443 per household and 50.5% of all Christmas sales.

Unsurprisingly, toys are to top the list of most popular gifts (£2.13b billion), followed closely by electronics (£2.03 billion).

While food and drink spend is expected to be lower (£8.36 billion), it’s the category set to see the highest growth rate, up 3.6% on 2024.

Additionally, holiday travel is also expected to do well this year, accounting for £2.36 billion of all sales across the festive season “as Brits brave traffic jams to spend Christmas with their loved ones”.

Moji Oshisanya, Chief Commercial Officer at VoucherCodes.co.uk, said: “It’s looking like another sparkling Christmas for retailers this year. All categories are expected to see uplifts in sales across the festive period, with consumers determined to not let budgets put a dampener on celebrating the festive season in style.

“However, with inflation at such a high level, UK consumers are increasingly on the hunt for ways to help their money go further. With one-fifth of consumers actively looking for discount codes to boost their Christmas budgets (22%), retailers should be prepared to offer savings and limited time offers to encourage this money-savvy audience to spend with them instead of with competitors. When budgets are tight, value is all important.”

While retail sales are set to an uplift this year versus previous years, sales volume is forecast to decrease by 0.3% for the first time since 2023 as consumers “remain cautious over festive spending”.