Most Treasured Christmas Gifts in Germany

2020 has been a special year in many regards. After months of social and economic insecurity, hygiene and physical distancing rules or cancelled vacation and family trips, many hope for a peaceful, carefree and – not least – finally a truly merry Christmas season. In spite of all insecurities, many Germans still plan to see some of their loved ones over the holidays. And Germans uphold the tradition of Christmas gifts also in corona-shaken 2020, as recent studies like the Statista Global Consumer Survey Holiday Special 2020 suggest. Spending behavior, however, seems to have changed – for the benefit of eCommerce: According to the German Trade Association HDE, 44% of Germans plan to buy more Christmas gifts online than usual due to the corona pandemic. According to the Statista Global Consumer Survey, a total of 77% of Germans plan to buy Christmas gifts in online stores this year – compared to only 70% in 2019. When it comes to receiving gifts, Germans are most happy about rather impersonal presents:

According to the Statista Global Consumer Survey Holiday Special 2020, gift cards and vouchers are the most popular Christmas gift for Germans in 2020: An average of 33% would be happy about a voucher or a gift card for Christmas. The appeal is even slightly higher among women: 36% like gift cards as presents. Receiving money is also very popular – in second place for both sexes: 27% of men would be happy about money, and 32% of women. Cosmetics, perfume, and body care products are just as popular among women as money. For men, cosmetics only come in fifth, with 18% being happy about presents from this category. Clothing, textiles, & shoes, and computers incl. accessories have a higher interest among men, with 21% and 19% liking them as presents, respectively. In general, women seem to be fond of a greater variety of presents than men. All of the top 6 favorite Christmas gifts of women in Germany have a popularity of at least 22%, while 4 out of the top 6 presents among men reach percentages below 22%. How many of these material wishes will be fulfilled this year, remains to be seen. Family reunions might well be the greatest gifts in a pandemic-shaken 2020.