RSS
One in five Romanians accumulated debt from Christmas expenses in 2015
One in five Romanians accumulated debt from Christmas expenses in 2015, while one in two Romanians feel compelled to spend money in holidays, reveal findings of the "ING International Survey - Christmas 2016" study released on Monday.
In 2015, more than one in four Romanians received a gift they either did not appreciate or did not like.
"Eighty-two percent of people in Europe say they received gifts last Christmas. Of these, about one in seven (15 percent) were given something they didn't appreciate, didn't like or couldn't use. (...) Asked to estimate the financial value of these unappreciated presents, survey respondents suggest a range with a median value of around 45 euros," the study says. At 27 percent, Romanians of all Europeans ranked third in terms of receivers of unappreciated presents, behind the UK (29 percent) and Italy (28 percent) the study says.
While nearly 3.7 billion euros were spent in 2015 on unappreciated presents, Christmas shopping incurred debt on one in ten Europeans.
According to the same study, Romania is topping the ranking, at 19 percent, nearly twice the European average of 10 percent. And yet, Europeans started better planning their holiday spending, with two in five Europeans (41 percent) saying they save money before Christmas, up from just 33 percent in 2015.
Although increasingly more are planning in advance and are saving especially for Christmas, there are still persons accumulating debt for the sake of family and friends, who one year on will not even remember the presents they have received. Consumers should think about long-term effects of spending before caving in to pressure and buy expensive presents that could be let unused, according to ING Group Senior Economist Ian Bright.
Five in ten Romanian (53 percent) feel compelled to spend money on Christmas, just 11 percent over the European average.
According to the findings of "ING International Survey - Christmas 2016," In 2016, 42% of people in Europe agree with the statement "I feel forced to spend money at Christmas."
The ING International Survey aims to gain a better understanding of how retail customers - and potential customers - of ING Bank around the globe spend, save, invest and feel about money. The study comprised 13,576 respondents from 14 countries.