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Durchblicker survey: Despite the Corona crisis, the Austrians gave around 927 million euros in cash.
Money is the most common gift, followed by coupons and books, movies, and games.
One in two people would like to save more on the cash gift this year, 4 out of 10 need it for large purchases and a fifth for open bills.
Cash gifts are crisis resistant
Vienna, December 25, 2020. Gifts of money are resistant to crises: even in the year of the Crown, money is the most common gift under the Christmas tree. This year there was a total of € 927 million * in the envelope, while the previous year it was significantly less with around € 836 million in cash.
On average, 274 euros are given away per person. This is the result of a representative study ** conducted by Austria’s largest rate comparison portal, durchblicker.
Also popular packs:
Activity vouchers (40 percent), books, movies, and games (40 percent), vouchers (38 percent), clothing (38 percent), and technical devices (30 percent). There are clear differences in the amount of cash gifts according to the federal state: Lower Austria and Vienna have the thickest envelopes with 406 and 297 euros, respectively, and the thinnest are in Tyrol (185 euros) and Carinthia (199 euros).
Reinhold Baudisch, Managing Director of durchblicker: “After Baby Jesus tightened his belt last year, almost a billion cash is again accumulating under the Christmas tree this year, so there is a considerable transfer of wealth from the older generations to the younger even in the year of the crisis. However, this year there is a small disappointment for retailers: more than one in two people plan to give up more than usual due to the crown. ”
Salzburgers are thrifty, urgently needed for many envelopes
On average, almost 7 out of 10 euros (68 percent) are spent immediately and a third saved (33 percent). In the case of the inhabitants of Salzburg, it is almost half (46 percent), while the Burmese squander almost 80 percent of their gifts in money. 53 percent of those surveyed said they would put more aside from the cash gift this year than usual, and 29 percent again plan to gift something with it this year. For many, this year the Infant Jesus envelope is urgently needed: 4 out of 10 need it for major purchases and a fifth use it to settle outstanding bills.
Monetary gifts are invested conservatively and with little income
As in the previous year, the main reason for saving is financial security itself (59 percent). But the money is also reserved for larger and smaller purchases (49 percent each). For a quarter of those surveyed, family provisions also play an important role, which even increased by four percentage points over the previous year. After all, 22 percent invest money for retirement. “A large portion of monetary gifts are invested conservatively and at low risk using an online savings account or a traditional savings account. 4 out of 10 Austrians even put their money aside in the classic ‘savings sock’. However, a look at current interest rate offers shows that an investment with a longer commitment is more profitable, ”adds Baudisch.
In addition to the online savings account or passbook, the study shows that savers from the construction society are still very popular. You hardly earn interest and only get a 0.6% return, according to the experts at durchblicker. It looks a bit better with the time deposit. A return of 1% before KEST already looks to a year of commitment, with six years it is up to 1.45% before KEST. If you want to invest your money donations safely, you can compare the savings interest and the conditions of the building society at durchblicker.at. An individual comparison is available free of charge and anonymously at https://durchblicker.at/sparzinsen and https://durchblicker.at/bausparen.
“Just money” is not the most popular gift
Although money is given most of the time, people living in Austria do not want to do without other gifts: 4 out of 10 (42 percent) are happier with a combination of money and other gifts. Only 13 percent prefer pure monetary gifts, 26 percent are happier with other gifts. Cash is spent primarily on material things like books and games (50 percent) or clothing and jewelry (44 percent). But the envelope is also used to cover fixed costs, for example groceries (43 percent) or housing costs (17 percent).
* Calculation: 7,358,443 people over 18 in Austria – source: Austrian Statistics) * 0.46 – Proportion of those who receive monetary gifts * 274 (average monetary value given to Austrians) = 927,458,155 euros.
** Online survey conducted by respondi AG from December 3-8, 2020, n = 1199 (men and women over 18 years of age living in Austria), representative of the Austrian population
