How Brexit is changing Christmas shopping

Pro-Remain areas will spend the least and overall outlay is set to fall

Christmas shopping
(Image credit: Getty)

Brexit's latest victim has been announced - Christmas shopping.

According to a survey of 2,000 shoppers by PwC, one in four people said the vote and the resulting economic uncertainty will have a "slight" or "considerable" effect on their seasonal spending, reports Bloomberg.

However, Brexit is not going to affect everyone to the same degree - or even at all. Two-thirds said they will not change their Christmas spending plans at all.

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Worst hit will be London, the most pro-Remain part of the country, where 44 per cent say the vote will have a negative impact on their buying, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Similarly, 40 per cent of shoppers aged between 18 and 35, who are also much more pro-EU, also say they will curb their spending.

On the other hand, people in Yorkshire, which voted heavily to Leave, were more likely to say they will spend the same as they would have done.

On average, each adult in the UK is planning to splash out around £280 on gifts, down from at least £300 in surveys prior to 2015.

Scotland, which voted strongly for Remain, bucks the trend somewhat, with an average expected spend of £329 per adult, the highest in the country. The East Midlands, meanwhile, has the lowest anticipated outlay, of £241 per adult.

The survey also found shoppers will buy more than half of their Christmas gifts online this year.

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