Survey on the Christmas business: Many people no longer have enough money for gifts

Due to rising prices for energy, food and other things, the presents could also be smaller for many this year.

Survey on the Christmas business: Many people no longer have enough money for gifts

Due to rising prices for energy, food and other things, the presents could also be smaller for many this year. According to a survey, a third of Germans have no money left for gifts.

According to a survey, almost every third German citizen sees no financial leeway for Christmas presents this year due to inflation. In a survey by the opinion research institute Insa for the "Bild" newspaper, 31 percent stated that they had no money for it due to the crisis. 46 percent are convinced that they can buy Christmas presents despite the crisis.

According to this, almost half of people with a net household income of less than 2000 euros will not be able to buy any gifts for the festival this year. Overall, 50 percent of those surveyed believe that the government's measures to combat the energy crisis will not help them survive the coming winter financially. Only 36 percent believe that the measures will help them.

As the survey also shows, more than one in four (28 percent) assumes that they will not be able to pay the energy costs in the coming months. 58 percent believe that they can handle it. More than one in five (23 percent) fears for their job due to the energy crisis. Two-thirds (67 percent) believe their job is not in jeopardy.

The Federal Statistical Office announced at the beginning of October that around one fifth of the German population had a net equivalent income of less than 16,300 euros per year. The equivalent income is a per capita income adjusted for savings effects in multi-person households. The reference year is the previous year of the survey. Two fifths (40 percent) of the population had a net equivalent income of less than 22,000 euros a year. On the other hand, 40 percent of the population also had an income of 28,400 euros and more.

According to their own estimates, two percent of the population lived in households in 2021 that could not keep their house or apartment adequately warm for financial reasons. According to the Federal Statistical Office, this affected around 2.6 million people.