The Russians named the types of best gifts for the new year 2023

Average check – 15 thousand rubles

No matter how hard life is for the Russians, they are not ready to give up the celebration of the New Year. This truth is confirmed by the results of opinion polls published in these snowy December days. Thus, a third of respondents intend to spend up to 10 thousand rubles on gifts. And in order for the celebration to succeed, 55% of the respondents start saving up in advance, and this is a very eloquent indicator that fits in with another fact: at least half of the citizens do not have any money savings.

For 46% of the population, the New Year remains not only the most important, but also the most costly event of the year. The main items of holiday expenses are gifts (23%) and food (25%). Almost 30% of respondents are ready to allocate 5-10 thousand rubles from the family budget for gifts, 27% – 15-25 thousand, and a quarter – 10-25 thousand. And only one in eight (12.4%) of those surveyed are not afraid of spending from 25,000 to 50,000 rubles.

According to another study, 42% of Russians named money as the most desirable gift for the New Year, 28% would prefer a smartphone or other electronic gadget, 12% – cosmetics and perfumes, 11% – confectionery and alcohol, 10% – clothes or jewelry. Well, they themselves are ready to give sweets and alcohol (29%), cosmetics and perfumes (24%), children’s toys (21%), clothes and accessories (15%) to relatives and friends. At the same time, half of the respondents admitted that they usually spend more on New Year’s gifts than planned.

“People are still ready to invest in positive emotions – this is a good signal, given the events of the current year, the instability of the labor market and the almost complete uncertainty with finances,” says Andrey Loboda, an economist and director of communications at BitRiver. – In Russia, it is not customary to save on gifts for loved ones, especially for the New Year. And now spending on them can grow by 10-15 percent, in spite of any life circumstances. The main priorities remained unchanged: the list is dominated by electronics and gadgets, perfumes and jewelry. This is quite a standard set “for all time”.

In turn, TeleTrade analyst Alexei Fedorov recalls that in the third quarter of 2022, the real disposable income of Russians decreased by 3.4% year-on-year, and retail sales in October – by 9.7%. A serious downturn in the domestic economy and a high level of socio-political uncertainty could not but affect consumer behavior, including when planning holiday spending. Not surprisingly, according to one survey, about 41% of citizens intend to reduce spending on New Year’s gifts compared to 2021.

“This is somewhat in contrast with the results of another study: the share of Russians who are ready to spend more than 10 thousand rubles on gifts for the New Year increased from 32% (in 2021) to 47%,” notes Fedorov. – However, if we remember the high rates of inflation, which amounted to 12.6% in October in annual terms, it becomes clear that this growth has an exclusively inflationary character. That is, people spread more, not because they have more money, but because all the gifts have risen in price. And the reduction in the share of those who want to receive money as a New Year’s present (from 53% in 2021 to 42% this year) indicates a sharp transition to a savings model of behavior. Despite the increased need of the population for specific goods, people are not ready to fork out for them right now due to high uncertainty.”

Life is becoming more expensive before our eyes, while the amounts that Russians are willing to spend on New Year’s gifts are not so small. In particular, argues Igor Nikolaev, chief researcher at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 15,000 rubles is comparable to the minimum wage in the country. Accordingly, it may even be good that many people, despite their difficult financial situation, do not want to deny themselves traditional joys. At the same time, it is very significant that 42% are interested in receiving money for the New Year. After all, when a person has complete order with finances, he is unlikely to want such a gift. Another eloquent fact: in order not to fail the holiday, 55% of respondents begin to save money in advance. This is quite consistent with another circumstance confirmed by statistics, according to which about 50% of citizens do not have any savings at all. This means that in order to spend a certain amount on a holiday, they need to save it in advance.

Read the material “Sprats instead of caviar: Russians from the provinces described an unprecedented New Year’s savings”