Conference Board: Consumers under 35 driving reduced spending on holiday gifts
Only consumers over the age of 65 are planning to spend more on both gifts and non-gift items this year than last.
That’s one of the findings of The Conference Board’s Holiday Spending Survey, which revealed that consumers under 35 are driving reduced spending on gifts this year. Consumers aged 35 to 45 and 55 to 64 are driving the decline in spending on non-gift items.
Discounts and promotions ranked as as the top two factors driving holiday spending decisions. In other findings, consumers prefer to give gifts that are needed instead of wanted.
The average U.S. consumer intends to spend $990 on total holiday-related purchases in 2025. That's down 6.9% from $1.063.00 in 2024 and close to holiday spending intentions in 2023 ($985), but lower than in 2022 ($1,006.00) and 2021 ($1,022.00).
Consumers intend to spend $650 on gifts this year, down 3.9% from $677 last year and the lowest since 2022. Budgets for non-gift items — including food, decorations, and wrapping paper — are down 12% at $340.
"Once accounting for inflation, planned holiday spending is well below pre-pandemic levels, with younger and wealthier consumers cutting back the most," said Stephanie Guichard, senior economist, global indicators at The Conference Board.
Additional highlights from the study are below.
- Suggestions from AI and social media influencers will only play a limited role in spending decisions—around 5% of consumers named them as top factors. But the share is roughly double for consumers under 35.
- Consumers plan to give more toys and games, vacation and travel, and gift cards in 2025 than in 2024. Toys and games jumped from third to first place in 2025 among buying intentions.
- Plans to give beauty products and clothing increased the most over last year.
- Consumers are less likely to give books/music/DVDs, tools and hardware, and sporting goods than last year.
- Forty-three percent of consumers expect to purchase at least half of their gifts online this year, unchanged from 2024. That share jumps to close to 54% for consumers earning over $125K.
- Consumers earning $75–100K and those earning over $125K plan to reduce holiday spending this year, cutting both gift and non-gift expenses.
- Consumers earning less than $50K are planning to spend a bit more on gifts and non-gift items this year, while those earning $100–125K plan to spend more on gifts but much less on non-gift items.
