If you ask any Russian person how they spent Christmas holidays, they will correct you: New Year holidays. That’s the central event of the 10-day break (30 December to 8 January) when locals were given time off work. In 2018, for the first time in year, locals spent less money during Christmas and New Year celebrations than the year before. What is the reason?

What locals did during their 10 days off?

The happiness brought by the 10-day long official public holiday is slightly less this year than in 2018 (69% have enjoyed it as compared to 73% last year). In fact, the satisfaction is the lowest since 2006, when the poll by WCIOM was first introduced in Russia.

It is also the highest level of people who clearly stated they didn’t enjoy the holidays since the initial poll in this research: 27%.

The most popular activities:

• Visiting friends and family (30%, compared to 42% last year).
• Enjoying nature and outdoors (28%, compared to 30% last year).
• Activities like skiing and ice skating: 24%.
• 21% of respondents still had to work (service industries didn’t get to enjoy the 10-day break).

29% of the respondents didn’t go anywhere during the 10-day break, not even for a walk outside, apparently. Last year only 18% of participants gave such an answer. But that’s not the highest number of people who decided to stay at home for their time off. In 2005, 40% of respondents said they did nothing during the New Year break.

Budgets are tight

The average amount spent during holidays this year was 13,870 rubles, which is about USD 206 (14,195 RUB in 2018).

In fact, the projected amount people were planning to spend (13,755 RUB) is close to the actual spending.

For the first time in a while, Russians spent less during the main holiday season of the year than before.

Presents

What gifts people got from family and friends?

• 27% of respondents got alcohol, food, or candies.
• Perfumes, cosmetics, cheap jewellery: 24%
• Souvenirs: 17%.
• Tickets to concerts of trips away were hard to get: Only 3% and 1% got such presents, although 10% and 11% of respondents dreamed about such gifts.
• 8% of locals got mobile phones.
• 10% of Russians got money as a gift.
• 15% of respondents received clothes or shoes.

But the most surprising is that 19% of people (!) didn’t get any presents. Can you believe it?

Data: WCIOM.ru

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