Holiday shopping no longer fits into a few weeks in December. Deals start in the fall, online orders peak around Cyber Monday, and a share of purchases ends up returned. Retailers, banks and statistics agencies in many countries track the season. Here are the numbers on how much people spend, where they shop and how they pay.
Top Holiday Spending Statistics
- Deloitte forecasts $1.70 trillion to $1.71 trillion in US holiday retail sales for November 2026 to January 2027 (Deloitte, 2026 Holiday Retail Forecast).
- Global online sales reached $1.29 trillion from November 1 to December 31, 2025, up 7% (Salesforce, 2025 Holiday Shopping Data).
- US shoppers spent $257.8 billion online from November 1 to December 31, 2025, up 6.8% (Adobe, 2025 Holiday Shopping Season).
- US consumers planned to spend $890.49 per person on the 2025 holidays, NRF’s survey found (NRF, 2025 Holiday Consumer Survey).
- A record 202.9 million US consumers shopped over Thanksgiving weekend 2025, from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday (NRF, Thanksgiving Weekend 2025).
- 27% of British adults said they would struggle to afford Christmas in 2025 (StepChange, Christmas Polling 2025).
How Much Do People Spend During the Holidays?
These figures cover total US holiday retail sales for the most recent season and the forecast for this season.
In the Deloitte data, the “holiday season” runs from November through January, and retail sales leave out autos and gasoline.
1. US holiday retail sales reached $1.63 trillion from November 2025 to January 2026 (Deloitte, 2026 Holiday Retail Forecast). Deloitte cites seasonally adjusted Census Bureau data that exclude autos and gasoline and show 4.1% growth.
2. Deloitte forecasts $1.70 trillion to $1.71 trillion in US holiday retail sales for November 2026 to January 2027 (Deloitte, 2026 Holiday Retail Forecast). That would be 4.0% to 4.8% more than the same period in 2025.
Deloitte forecast of US holiday retail sales, November 2026 to January 2027
Source: Deloitte, 2026 Holiday Retail Forecast. Forecast range: $1.70 trillion to $1.71 trillion.
How Much Do People Spend Online During the Holidays?
These figures cover holiday sales worldwide and in the US, mostly online, including key shopping days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
In the Salesforce data, the “holiday season” means November 1 to December 31, with totals extrapolated from Salesforce data to the broader retail industry.
3. Global online sales reached $1.29 trillion from November 1 to December 31, 2025, up 7% (Salesforce, 2025 Holiday Shopping Data). Salesforce estimates the total from the activity of more than 1.5 billion shoppers in more than 89 countries.
4. Cyber Monday drove $53 billion in global online sales in 2025, up 7% (Salesforce, Cyber Week 2025 Results).
In the Shopify data, “sales” means gross merchandise volume: the value of orders on Shopify after refunds, including shipping, duties and value-added taxes.
5. Shopify merchants made $14.6 billion in sales over Black Friday–Cyber Monday weekend 2025 (Shopify, BFCM 2025 Data). The figure covers online and offline sales by Shopify’s merchants worldwide.
In the Adobe data, the “holiday season” means online spending on US retail sites from November 1 through December 31.
6. US shoppers spent $257.8 billion online from November 1 to December 31, 2025, up 6.8% (Adobe, 2025 Holiday Shopping Season). Adobe’s data covers more than 1 trillion visits to US retail sites.
| Category | US online holiday spending, Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025 | Change from 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Electronics | $59.8 billion | +8.2% |
| Apparel | $49.0 billion | +7.4% |
| Furniture | $31.1 billion | +6.6% |
| Groceries | $23.7 billion | +10.2% |
| Toys | $8.8 billion | +7.8% |
| Cosmetics | $8.4 billion | +9.3% |
| Sporting goods | $8.4 billion | +7.7% |
Source: Adobe, 2025 Holiday Shopping Season. Adobe lists these seven categories; they are not a full breakdown.
In the Adobe data, “Cyber Week” means the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday.
7. $44.2 billion was spent online in the US during Cyber Week 2025, up 7.7% (Adobe, 2025 Holiday Shopping Season).
8. US shoppers spent $14.25 billion online on Cyber Monday 2025, up 7.1% (Adobe, 2025 Holiday Shopping Season). Adobe says it was the biggest online shopping day of the season and the year.
9. US shoppers spent $11.8 billion online on Black Friday 2025, up 9.1% (Adobe, 2025 Holiday Shopping Season). Its growth outpaced Cyber Monday’s, according to Adobe.
10. Smartphones accounted for 56.4% of US online holiday transactions in 2025, up from 54.5% in 2024 (Adobe, 2025 Holiday Shopping Season).
In the Adobe data, “traffic from generative AI tools” means shoppers clicking a link in an AI tool that takes them to a retail site.
11. US retail sites saw 693.4% more traffic from generative AI tools in the 2025 holiday season than a year earlier (Adobe, 2025 Holiday Shopping Season). Adobe notes the number of these shoppers is still modest.
What Are the Expected Holiday Spending Trends for 2026?
These are the early forecasts and surveys for this year’s holiday season.
12. Deloitte forecasts $316.1 billion to $318.9 billion in US holiday e-commerce sales for November 2026 to January 2027 (Deloitte, 2026 Holiday Retail Forecast). That would be growth of 7.5% to 8.4% year over year.
13. US consumers expect to spend $708 on average on holiday gifts in 2026 (PwC, Holiday Outlook 2026). PwC surveyed 4,093 US consumers from June 15 to 26, 2026.
14. About 40% of planned US gift spending for the 2026 holidays falls between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday (PwC, Holiday Outlook 2026).
15. US consumers expect to spend $419 each on holiday travel in 2026, down 24% (PwC, Holiday Outlook 2026). Last year’s figure was $553.
16. Salesforce predicts 20% of 2026 holiday e-commerce traffic will come from AI chat agents (Salesforce, 2026 Holiday Predictions). The forecast counts shopper-facing bots, agents doing backend tasks and competitor price scrapers.
17. UK households will spend £1,681.12 on average on Christmas 2026, MoneySuperMarket estimates (MoneySuperMarket, Christmas 2026 Cost Research). The estimate adjusts the cost of Christmas 2024, from a Censuswide survey of 1,500 adults, for inflation.
Is Holiday Spending Up or Down?
These figures show how US holiday sales changed last season, along with NRF’s forecast and the season’s usual share of yearly sales.
18. US holiday sales grew 4.1% from November 1 to December 31, 2025, according to NRF (NRF, CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor December 2025). The figure is based on card purchase data in the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, not Census data.
In the NRF data, “holiday sales” means retail sales from November 1 through December 31, in stores and online, leaving out car dealers, gas stations and restaurants.
19. NRF had forecast $1.01 trillion to $1.02 trillion in US holiday sales for November and December 2025 (NRF, 2025 Holiday Forecast). That forecast called for growth of 3.7% to 4.2% over 2024.
20. November and December holiday sales averaged about 19% of total US retail sales over the last five years (NRF, Winter Holiday FAQs). NRF’s 2025 holiday FAQ says the share can be higher for some retailers.
In the Mastercard SpendingPulse data, “US retail sales” means sales at retailers and restaurants of all sizes, leaving out most services such as airlines and hotels.
21. US retail sales excluding autos rose 3.9% from November 1 to December 21, 2025 (Mastercard SpendingPulse, Holiday 2025). Online sales rose 7.4% and in-store sales 2.9%, in preliminary figures not adjusted for inflation.
In the Bank of America Institute data, “holiday items” means categories where November and December usually make up at least 20% of yearly spending.
22. Holiday-item spending on Bank of America cards rose 4.7% year over year from early October 2025 to January 2, 2026 (Bank of America Institute, Consumer Checkpoint January 2026).
How Much Do Americans Plan to Spend per Person?
These US surveys ask people how much they plan to spend on the holidays.
23. US consumers planned to spend $890.49 per person on the 2025 holidays, NRF’s survey found (NRF, 2025 Holiday Consumer Survey). That covers gifts, food, decorations and other seasonal items, from a survey of 8,247 adult consumers.
24. 91% of US consumers planned to celebrate the winter holidays in 2025 (NRF, Winter Holiday Data and Trends).
25. US consumers planned to spend $627.93 per person on gifts for family and friends in 2025 (NRF, 2025 Holiday Consumer Survey).
26. US holiday shoppers planned to spend $1,595 on average in 2025, down 10% year over year (Deloitte, 2025 Holiday Retail Survey). Deloitte surveyed 4,270 consumers online from August 27 to September 5.
In the Deloitte data, “retail goods” means gifts plus non-gift items such as hosting, clothes and holiday décor.
27. US shoppers expected to spend $694 on holiday experiences in 2025, versus $902 on retail goods (Deloitte, 2025 Holiday Retail Survey report).
In the Gallup data, “holiday spending” means what adults estimate they will spend on Christmas or other holiday gifts.
28. In November 2025, Americans estimated they would spend $778 on average on holiday gifts (Gallup, Holiday Spending Plans Plummet). That was down from $1,007 in October; Gallup interviewed 1,321 US adults by phone.
Americans’ November estimates of holiday gift spending, 2006 to 2025
Source: Gallup, Holiday Spending Plans Plummet. Estimates asked in November of each year.
29. $1,230 was the expected 2025 holiday gift spend of US adults in households earning $100,000 or more (Gallup, Holiday Spending Plans Plummet). Adults in households earning under $50,000 expected to spend $384, and middle-income earners $842.
How Much Is Spent on the Holidays Around the World?
These figures cover holiday spending in Canada, the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Many official figures are seasonally adjusted, which means normal seasonal swings, such as the December rise, are taken out.
Canada
30. Canadians planned to keep their holiday gift budget steady at C$975 per person in 2025 (Retail Council of Canada, 2025 Holiday Shopping Survey). Leger surveyed 2,505 Canadian adults in August 2025.
31. Canadian retail sales totaled C$70.7 billion in December 2025, down from C$71.0 billion in November (Statistics Canada, Table 20-10-0056-01). The figures are seasonally adjusted.
32. Canadian retail e-commerce sales reached C$5.1 billion in December 2025, up from C$4.8 billion in November (Statistics Canada, Table 20-10-0056-01). The figures are seasonally adjusted.
United Kingdom
Click and collect means ordering online and picking the order up in a store.
33. 30% of UK consumers planned to spend more on Christmas 2025 than the year before (Deloitte UK, Christmas ConsumerSignals 2025). Deloitte surveyed 1,000 consumers per country aged 18 and over.
34. Retail sales volumes in Great Britain were 1.1% higher in December 2025 than a year earlier (ONS, time series J5EB). Volume measures the quantity of goods bought, and the figures are seasonally adjusted.
35. 28.5% of Great Britain’s retail sales, excluding fuel, were made online in December 2025 (ONS, time series MS6Y). Online sales values were 10.6% higher than a year earlier (ONS, time series KP8H), and both figures are seasonally adjusted.
36. UK retail sales rose 1.2% year on year over the 2025 festive trading period, according to the BRC (British Retail Consortium, Retail Sales Monitor December 2025). Food sales rose 3.1% while non-food sales fell 0.3%.
37. 64% of UK Christmas presents in 2025 were expected to be bought online (PwC UK, Festive Predictions 2025). That includes 55% for home delivery and 9% click and collect, from a survey of 2,000 adults.
Europe
Calendar adjusted figures account for differences in working days and public holidays between months.
38. 23% of consumers in the other European markets Deloitte surveyed planned to spend more on Christmas 2025 (Deloitte UK, Christmas ConsumerSignals 2025). Those markets included France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
39. Retail trade volume in the 20-country euro area rose 2.1% year over year in December 2025 (Eurostat, dataset sts_trtu_m). The EU-wide rise was 2.2%; both figures are calendar adjusted.
| Country | Retail trade volume, % change from December 2024 (December 2025, calendar adjusted) |
|---|---|
| Türkiye | 16.5% |
| Bulgaria | 9.0% |
| Cyprus | 9.0% |
| Serbia | 8.8% |
| Montenegro | 8.4% |
| Albania | 6.0% |
| Malta | 5.3% |
| Croatia | 4.8% |
| Greece | 4.7% |
| Poland | 4.3% |
| Slovenia | 4.0% (provisional) |
| Portugal | 3.9% |
| Denmark | 3.7% |
| Luxembourg | 3.7% |
| France | 3.6% (provisional) |
| Hungary | 3.5% (provisional) |
| Norway | 3.1% |
| Germany | 3.0% (provisional) |
| Spain | 2.7% (provisional) |
| Switzerland | 2.6% |
| Lithuania | 2.4% |
| Sweden | 2.4% |
| Czechia | 1.8% |
| Latvia | 1.3% |
| North Macedonia | 1.1% (provisional) |
| Netherlands | 0.4% |
| Austria | 0.4% (provisional) |
| Belgium | 0.0% (provisional) |
| Finland | -0.2% |
| Ireland | -0.6% (provisional) |
| Italy | -0.6% |
| Estonia | -1.0% |
| Romania | -2.1% (provisional) |
| Slovakia | -5.0% |
Source: Eurostat, dataset sts_trtu_m. Retail trade except motor vehicles. Data updated September 22, 2026.
40. Poles planned to spend an average 1,787 zł per person on Christmas 2025 (Polish Bank Association, Świąteczny Portfel Polaków 2025). That was 13% more than in 2024 and included 677 zł for gifts.
41. 46% of Austrian consumers planned to buy Christmas gifts through online shops in 2025, up from 43% (Deloitte Austria, Christmas Survey 2025). Deloitte surveyed 508 consumers online in October 2025.
Australia and New Zealand
In the ARA and Roy Morgan data, “pre-Christmas retail spending” covers gifts, food, grocery and liquor, household goods, clothing, department stores, other retail, and cafes, restaurants and takeaway.
42. A$72.4 billion was the forecast for Australian pre-Christmas retail spending in 2025, up 4% on 2024 (Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan, Christmas 2025 Forecast). The period runs from November 13 to Christmas Eve.
43. A$757 per shopper was the forecast average Christmas gift spend in Australia in 2025, up 7.1% (Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan, Christmas 2025 Forecast).
In the ABS data, “household spending” is measured from de-identified bank card transactions, supermarket scanner data and motor vehicle sales.
44. Australian household spending fell 0.4% in December 2025 but was 5.0% higher than in December 2024 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, Household Spending Indicator December 2025). The monthly change is seasonally adjusted.
45. NZ$11 billion was spent using electronic cards in New Zealand in December 2025 (Stats NZ, Electronic Card Transactions December 2025). That covered 195 million transactions, in actual figures that are not seasonally adjusted.
When Do People Start Holiday Shopping?
These figures cover when people start shopping and the busiest shopping days.
46. 42% of US holiday shoppers planned to start browsing and buying before November in 2025 (NRF, 2025 Holiday Consumer Survey).
47. 63% of US consumers surveyed planned to wait until Thanksgiving weekend to do most of their holiday shopping in 2025 (NRF, 2025 Holiday Consumer Survey). That was up from 59% the year before.
In the NRF data, “Thanksgiving weekend” means the five days from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday.
48. A record 202.9 million US consumers shopped over Thanksgiving weekend 2025, from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday (NRF, Thanksgiving Weekend 2025). That was up from 197 million the year before, based on a survey of 3,099 adults.
49. US Thanksgiving weekend 2025 shoppers who made a holiday purchase spent $337.86 on average on holiday items, up from $315.56 (NRF, Thanksgiving Weekend 2025). About 67% of it went on gifts.
50. 85.7 million US consumers shopped online on Black Friday 2025, and 80.3 million shopped in stores (NRF, Winter Holiday Data and Trends). NRF says Black Friday remained the top shopping day both online and in stores.
51. US consumers had completed 51% of their holiday shopping, on average, by early December 2025 (NRF, Winter Holiday Data and Trends).
52. An estimated 158.9 million US consumers planned to shop on the last Saturday before Christmas 2025 (NRF, Winter Holiday Data and Trends).
Which Holiday Gifts Are Most Popular?
These figures cover the gifts people want and plan to give.
53. 50% of US consumers named gift cards as a gift they would like to receive in 2025 (NRF, 2025 Holiday Consumer Survey).
Top gifts US consumers would like to receive, 2025
Source: NRF, 2025 Holiday Consumer Survey.
54. NRF expected $29.1 billion in US holiday gift card spending in 2025, up from $28.6 billion in 2024 (NRF, Thanksgiving Weekend Outlook 2025). Shoppers planned to buy three to four gift cards and spend $171.32 per person on them.
55. 47% of Canadians planned to buy gift cards for the 2025 holidays, up from 42% in 2024 (Retail Council of Canada, 2025 Holiday Shopping Survey).
56. 47% of US holiday shoppers planned to give experience gifts in 2025, up from 39% in 2024 (Deloitte, 2025 Holiday Retail Survey report). Deloitte’s examples include restaurants, event tickets and spa visits.
How Much Holiday Spending Gets Returned?
These figures cover holiday returns.
57. More than $181 billion of global online holiday purchases in 2025 had already been returned, Salesforce reported (Salesforce, 2025 Holiday Shopping Data). That was 14% of purchases made from November 1 to December 31, up 10% from the year before.
58. US retailers expected 17% of 2025 holiday sales to be returned (NRF and Happy Returns, 2025 Retail Returns Landscape). The survey covered 358 e-commerce professionals at large US merchants.
How Do People Pay for Holiday Shopping?
These figures cover how people pay for holiday purchases. Buy now, pay later services let shoppers split a purchase into smaller payments over time.
59. 61% of US holiday shoppers expected to use debit cards for at least some 2025 purchases (Bankrate, 2025 Holiday Spending Report).
How US holiday shoppers planned to pay, 2025
Source: Bankrate, 2025 Holiday Spending Report.
In the NerdWallet data, “holiday shoppers” means Americans who plan to buy gifts this holiday season.
60. 18% of US 2025 holiday shoppers said they would use buy now, pay later services for presents (NerdWallet, 2025 Holiday Spending Report). The Harris Poll surveyed 2,083 US adults online for NerdWallet in September 2025.
61. Buy now, pay later drove $20 billion in US online holiday spending in 2025, up 9.8% (Adobe, 2025 Holiday Shopping Season). Adobe says 82.2% of those purchases were made on smartphones.
62. UK cardholders spent £23.8 billion on credit cards in December 2025, up 8.2% from December 2024 (UK Finance, Card Spending Update December 2025). The total includes their spending in the UK and overseas.
How Many Shoppers Take On Holiday Debt?
These figures cover holiday debt, money pressure and overall credit card borrowing in several countries.
63. 28% of US holiday shoppers in 2025 may take on debt, through a credit card paid off over time or BNPL (Bankrate, 2025 Holiday Spending Report). Bankrate adjusted the figure for shoppers who plan to do both.
64. 31% of US 2024 holiday shoppers who used credit cards still hadn’t paid off those balances by September 2025 (NerdWallet, 2025 Holiday Spending Report).
65. 56% of Canadian 2024 holiday shoppers say they took on credit card debt for holiday gifts (NerdWallet Canada, 2025 Canadian Holiday Spending Report). The Harris Poll surveyed 1,017 Canadian adults online in October 2025.
66. 27% of British adults said they would struggle to afford Christmas in 2025 (StepChange, Christmas Polling 2025). YouGov polled 2,070 adults online in November 2025.
67. 48% of Austrian consumers saved during the year to afford Christmas 2025, up from 40% (Deloitte Austria, Christmas Survey 2025).
68. US credit card balances rose $44 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 to $1.28 trillion (New York Fed, Household Debt and Credit Report Q4 2025). The data comes from a nationally representative sample of Equifax credit reports.
69. UK credit card borrowing grew 12.4% year over year in December 2025, the highest rate since January 2024 (Bank of England, Money and Credit December 2025).
Conclusion
Holiday spending kept growing in the US last season, and early forecasts point to more growth this year. More of it now happens online and on phones. Credit cards are a common way to pay, and buy now, pay later spending online is growing in the US. Some US shoppers were still paying off the previous year’s holiday balances months later. We’ll update this page as new data comes out.