Christmas shopping – Brits pay out £700 million more than rest of Europe

We regularly moan about price differences in other parts of the world, but according to a new survey, British shoppers get a raw deal when compared to Europe too – paying out up to £700 million more on Christmas shopping.

According to the research undertaken by PriceRunner, the average Christmas shopping trip in Britain costs a whopping £306.89, which puts us in 15th place in a European league table. We still fare better than Ireland though, which will set you back £341.45. Belgium is the cheapest place to get the Christmas shopping done at £244.35. For the full breakdown, read on after the turn.

Cost of Christmas shopping:

1. Belgium – £244.35
2. Hungary – £244.45
3. Poland – £248.27
4. France – £249.62
5. Germany – £271.93
6. Italy – £272.90
7. Greece – £272.84
8. Malta – £273.42
9. Sweden – £281.14
10. Austria – £282.56
11. Portugal – £284.35
12. Lithuania – £296.89
13. Czech Republic – £296.93
14. Holland – £303.29
15. UK – £306.89
16. Norway – £309.60
17. Denmark – £310.40
18. Spain – £311.50
19. Finland – £329.21
20. Cyprus – £339.24
21. Ireland – £341.45

Items included in the survey were an adult bus ticket, chart CD, takeaway coffee, Sony CyberShot DSC-T9 camera, chart DVD, McDonald’s Big Mac (burger only) and The Twelfth Card paperback by Jeffrey Deaver.

PriceRunner website