Kenyans spend heavily on Christmas, research shows
Kenyan consumers are spending more than half of their monthly earnings on the upcoming festivities, a new global consumer study has disclosed.
A study by WorldRemit, a leading global payments company, found that majority of households spend a staggering 54 per cent of their monthly income on costs associated with Christmas spending.
It also shows that with holiday season kicking off, families around the world are making plans to celebrate the season with unique traditions, once-a-year meals, gifts and more.
The study says Christmas items were selected based on desk research of typical Christmas meals, gifts, traditions, travel and decorations. “We then researched the average price of each item for an average family on an average income. The prices were researched online in late October 2021 - early November 2021,” reads in part the study released yesterday.
Transacted virtually
While the majority of shoppers prefer purchases at a physical shop, primarily because they believe it will be easier for recipients to return gifts, the study found that many purchases are being transacted virtually –through online shopping.
The firm conducted a multi-country study to determine the true cost of Christmas in 14 countries, mining data to showcase the average costs of traditional Christmas meals, decorations, and gifts. Kenya was one of the 14 countries observed.
Rwandans are most impacted by the disparity between average household income and holiday costs, spending 708 per cent of monthly income and nearly 60 per cent of annual income on holidays.
Six countries studied - Mexico, Lebanon, Philippines, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Rwanda spend 100 per cent or more of monthly income on Christmas, meaning most households must dip into savings, borrow, or receive support from friends and loved ones abroad through remittances to celebrate Christmas. Without remittances into these countries, celebrating Christmas would be near impossible.
Large percentages
More than 244 million people are classified as immigrants around the world and account for large percentages of populations in countries like the United States about 14.4 per cent of total population, UK 9 per cent and Australia at 30 per cent while Canadians spend 21.5 per cent.Christmas is one of the primary reasons immigrants and migrants send money back to their home country.
