With the festive season upon us, YouGov has conducted an extensive study on Christmas, exploring Yuletide routines and attitudes towards the holiday.
The study is part of our Big Surveys project: a series of in-depth surveys on British society. It was conducted between 19-24 November 2025, with a total sample of 4,243 Britons aged 18 and above, and is divided into the following chapters:
Key findings:
- 89% of Britons celebrate Christmas
- 34% of Britons say they “love” Christmas, with another 39% saying they like it. One in eleven Britons (9%) say they dislike or hate Christmas
- 21% say Christmas is too commercialised
- The median acceptable time for shops to start putting up displays is late November, but for people’s own homes it is early December
- 76% of those who put up Christmas decorations have an artificial tree, 18% a real one
- 24% of Britons say they have started their Christmas shopping before November
- Men in relationships are slightly more likely to give their partner a gift than women (95% vs 89%), while women are much more likely than men to buy presents for their close friends (61% vs 33%)
- More Britons prefer their presents to be a surprise (44%) than to dictate what they get (32%). One in seven (15%) don’t want any presents
- Christmas films, music and crackers are the most common festive activities, with 62-65% saying they do each at this time of year
- Turkey remains the centrepiece Christmas meat (57%), with roast potatoes and gravy topping the list of accompaniments. Christmas pudding is the most common dessert, with 41% having some
- Women are notably more likely than men to be stressed by Christmas (30% vs 20%), and to also have to be doing all the work, e.g. 46% say they do all the gift shopping vs 10% of men
- Silent Night is the nation’s favourite Christmas carol, Fairytale of New York the favourite Christmas song, and Home Alone the favourite Christmas film
- 33% say they are typically worried about the impact of Christmas on their personal finances, rising to 42% among those in households with incomes of under £30,000
- Among those who gave an answer across five Christmas spending categories, the expected median festive spend is £550
- Santa Claus or Father Christmas? The nation is evenly split, with younger generations mostly using the former and older generations the latter
