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£37: the cost of filling a Christmas stocking

4th December 2014 Print

On Christmas morning kids will wake up to stockings stuffed, on average, with £37 worth of goodies including chocolate coins, sweets, toiletries and new pens and pencils. Confectionary pips the traditional Christmas fruit and nuts – this year, stockings are more than twice as likely to contain chocolate coins (56%) than a tangerine (24%) and only 15% of kids can expect to find any festive nuts.

The Christmas stocking survey, commissioned by Gocompare.com, also revealed wide regional variations in the cost and contents of Christmas stockings. 

While, on average, parents expect to spend £37 buying stocking presents, those living in London say it will cost them £48 while those in the North East estimate they will spend an average of £16. 

Children living in London (38%) are more likely than any other region to wake up to find toys, dolls or board games at the end of their bed, while those living in the South East are the most likely to find pens and pencils (44%) or a book (38%).

Of parents giving a stocking this year, when asked at what age they expect to (or did) stop giving their children a Christmas stocking, 21% of parents stopped/will stop by the time their kids are 18 and 6% between the ages of 19 and 30, however, 21% said ‘never’.

Claire Peate, customer insight manager at Gocompare.com commented: “For many families, Christmas wouldn’t be complete without stockings stuffed with a selection of festive food and goodies – so much so that many parents continue to buy stocking fillers for their grown-up children. But clearly there are different traditions around the country meaning you are more likely to get nuts in the North East and underwear in Wales!”