Berlin, November 28

Germans plan to spend less on Christmas presents this year and will instead open their wallets to charities as the country faces a record influx of refugees, a study showed on Friday.

The GfK institute for consumer sentiment said Germans will on average spend 274 euros on Christmas presents this year — four per cent less than in 2014.

The retail sector can expect Christmas sales to total around 14.3 billion euros this year, five per cent down on last year. But cash will be a popular present, and 3.5 billion euros expected to change hands under Christmas tree will eventually benefit retailers, said GfK Analyst Wolfgang Adlwarth.

At the same time, Germans are giving more to charity: in first nine months of the year, donations rose by nearly 14 per cent.

“Apart from the earthquake in Nepal during the spring, this is clearly due to the influx of refugees who have arrived in Germany mainly since September,” Adlwarth said.

The charitable trend was particularly strong among those aged around 30.