Irish families to spend an average of €620 on gifts this Christmas

Irish families will spend up to €1,463 this Christmas, with the average family spending €620 on gifts alone, according to research by Aviva Home Insurance.

Other costs include €340 on food and drink; €228 on socialising, including Christmas parties, pantomimes and family parties; and € 210 on home decoration and ad hoc costs such as Christmas crackers, carol singing donations, clothes on Christmas day.

However, a fifth of respondents said that they will spend less on gifts this year, while a further fifth intend to consume less food and drink (18%) and 23 per cent said they would spend less on socialising and events such as pantomimes.

Given the cost of gifts that many families keep at home, Aviva is recommending that people check their home insurance policy to make sure these gifts are covered in the event of a burglary. Aviva for example, automatically increases your contents sum insured by 10 per cent for the month of December.

Meanwhile, the top 12 toys that children across Ireland are expected to find under their Christmas tree this year were unveiled at the launch of the Christmas Toy Show in the RDS.

Chosen by the Toy Retailers Association, which expects 2014 to be the biggest year for toy sales since 2010, this Christmas looks set to be dominated by the movie Frozen, wearable tech watches, and interactive pets, dolls and dinosaurs.

The top toys this year are expected to be:

Boomer Dino (Spinmaster): € 130

Bop It Beats (Hasbro): € 29

Frozen Snow Glow Elsa (Jakks Pacific): € 45

Frozen Sparkle Dolls (Mattel): € 21

Lego Benny’s Spaceship (Lego): € 105

Little Live Pets Birdcage (Character Options): € 25

Kiddizoom Smart Watch (Vtech): € 50

Minecraft Figures (Character Options): € 10

My Friend Cayla: (Vivid): € 75

Nerf N-Strike Elite Demolisher 2-in-1 (Hasbro): € 59

Toot-Toot Animals Safari Park (VTech): € 50

Transformers Stomp and Chomp Grimlock (Hasbro): € 115