Spaniards to spend 633 euros on average on Christmas shopping

MADRID, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Spaniards will spend 633 euros (745 U.S. dollars) on average on Christmas shopping, according to a study on patterns of consumption of Spaniards published by Spain's EAE Business School on Thursday.

The study, which analyzes the amount of money Spaniards plan to spend on Christmas and how they plan to pay, said Spain leads the ranking in Europe, surpassing Britain, which due to instability over 'Brexit' would see British purchase intent drop.

Spaniards would spend 633 euros per person on average (252 euros on food, 195 euros on presents, 106 euros on trips and 80 euros on leisure), which will mean a 3.3 percent rise when compared with the real amount of money they spent in 2016.

Seventy-five percent of Spanish consumers will spend their money on traditional stores rather than online ones, as traditional stores offer professional advice, proximity, safety when it comes to personal details and private information and it is easier to change the items.

However, despite these preferences, the study shows that the number of people who prefer to buy online has risen by 10.9 percent year-on-year.

The study also shows that 20 percent of buyers will pay by cash, while 38 percent of people would use debit cards and 27 percent would use credit cards.

Spain has suffered a serious economic crisis that undermined the citizens' consumption which is now one of the main factors fueling the country's growth. Spain has grown by 0.8 percent from the second quarter to the third quarter of the year. (1 euro=1.18 U.S. dollars) Enditem