New study reveals the cities most likely to have spent the most over Christmas

New data has revealed the UK cities most likely to have overspent online at Christmas.  

The study, conducted by personal finance experts Wealth of Geeks, combined online search data from December 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. The average monthly search volumes for terms such as ‘Christmas presents for dad’ and ‘Amazon presents for her’ were considered per 100,000 people to determine the cities most likely to spend the most money online this December.   

Derby is the city most likely to have shopped online over festive period. Over the last four years in December, Derby has searched for present-related terms an average of 6,306 times per 100,000 people. ‘Gifts for her’ is the most searched-for term in the city, with 475 average monthly searches in total. 

The study revealed that Carlisle takes the silver medal. In the city, there were 5,916 average monthly searches for present-related items per 100,000 people over the last four Decembers. Behind ‘gifts for her’, ‘Christmas gifts’ is the most searched-for term, with a total of 99 average monthly searches per 100,000 people. 
 
Oxford is the third city most likely to have overspent this Christmas. In the last four Decembers, there were 5,755 average monthly searches for present-related terms per 100,000 people. The city’s second most popular term is ‘secret Santa’, with 155 average monthly searches, behind ‘gifts for her’ and ahead of ‘Christmas gifts’. 

In fourth place is Southend-on-Sea, with 5,366 average monthly searches for present-related ideas per 100,000 people, according to data collected over the last four Decembers. ‘Stocking fillers’ is the fourth most searched-for term, with 137 average monthly searches in total, following behind the terms ‘gifts for her’, ‘Christmas gifts’ and ‘secret Santa’. 

Crawley is the fifth city most likely to have overspent this Christmas. In Crawley, there are 5,348 average monthly searches for presents-related terms per 100,000 people over the last four Decembers. ‘Gifts for him’ is the fifth most popular term, with 94 average monthly searches per 100,00 people in total after ‘gifts for her’, ‘Christmas gifts’, ‘stocking fillers’ and ‘secret Santa’.   

Colchester ranks sixth, with 5,296 average monthly searches per 100,000 people for present-related terms over the last four Decembers. Colchester residents are searching for ‘gifts for him’ 117 times over the festive season per 100,000 people; this is the sixth most popular term ahead of ‘gifts for her’, ‘Christmas gifts’, ‘secret Santa gifts’, ‘stocking fillers’ and ‘Christmas stockings’. 

Northampton is the seventh city most likely to have spent the most money online over Christmas. Over the last four Decembers, Northampton had 5,295 average monthly searches for present-related terms per 100,000 people.  

Nottingham ranks eighth with 5,177 average monthly searches per 100,000 people, followed by Stoke-on-Trent in ninth place, with 4,984 average monthly searches per 100,000 people. Cambridge is the tenth city the most likely to shop online over the festive period, with 4,880 average monthly searches per 100,000 people. 

A spokesperson at Wealth of Geeks has commented on the study: “This study highlights the cities expected to have spent the most online shopping during the festive season; Derby takes the crown with the highest average monthly search volume over the last four years in December, followed by Carlisle and Oxford.  

“However, it interesting to note most cities mentioned in the study are based in the Midlands and South of England, suggesting that these areas might be more prone to overspend during the festive period.”  

Table: UK cities looking to spend the most online shopping this Christmas 

*The average monthly search volumes have been rounded up to the nearest whole number.