Secret Santa Budget Statistics: What Surveys Show

Name: Secret Santa budget statistics from published surveys
Creator: SecretsantaName
Published: 2026-11-02
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

4 published surveys, 13 findings, each with its own sample and fieldwork dates. The average UK Secret Santa spend is £21 and the average overspend £14; 78% of respondents exchange at work.

Published 2026-11-02 · 2 of 4 surveys are the publisher's own page; the other 2 are reported by a named outlet and labelled · Method · Sources

Average spend

£21

Confused.com / OnePoll · n = 2,000 · Oct–Nov 2025

Average overspend

£14

Same survey · above each respondent's own budget

Budget £5–£10

48%

instantprint · n = 1,000 UK office workers · 2024

Exchanges at work

78%

Confused.com / OnePoll · categories overlap

What the surveys show

Two UK surveys carry the headline numbers. Confused.com, with research by OnePoll, asked 2,000 UK adults who have done Secret Santa and found an average spend of £21 and an average overspend of £14. instantprint asked 1,000 UK office workers and found 48% spending between £5 and £10, with 1% saying they would consider spending £30 or more. These are different populations and different years, so they are shown side by side and never averaged.

The only US survey in the set is a 2023 Big Lots study, run by OnePoll, with a stated sample of 2,000 US adults and fieldwork on 8–9 November 2023. It puts the average gift-exchange limit at $49 per exchange. Its publisher's own release is no longer online, so the row is labelled “reported by a named outlet” and the sample and fieldwork come from StudyFinds' reproduction of the methodology.

One 2025 study looks at London overspending, not at a budget level: Freenow by Lyft, with Censuswide, reported that nearly three-quarters of Londoners overspend, with 67% of those going £11–£50 over. The sample is 1,000 UK consumers, and London is a cut of it.

Average spend and overspend

Bar chart: average Secret Santa spend £21 and average overspend £14, Confused.com/OnePoll 2025 — One survey, one currency, no conversion. The overspend is the amount above the respondent's own budget, not a second gift.

Who people exchange with

Bar chart: share of Secret Santa exchanges with work colleagues 78%, friends 30%, family 26% — The same survey. Categories overlap, so the shares do not add to 100%.

Spend bands, where published

Dot chart: 48% of UK office workers spend £5–£10, 1% would consider spending £30 or more — The instantprint survey published two bands. No other band is drawn, because no other band was published. The £30+ point is intent, not spend.

The surveys, one by one

Confused.comPublisher's own page

OnePoll · UK adults who have done Secret Santa · n = 2,000 · fieldwork 29 Oct – 3 Nov 2025 · published 25 Nov 2025 · GBP

Measure	Value	Source wording
Average Secret Santa spend per person per year	£21	“On average, Secret Santa gift exchanges cost Brits £21 each year.”
Average amount spent above the Secret Santa budget	£14	“with Brits exceeding their Secret Santa budget by £14 on average”
Share who take part in two or more exchanges	21%	“Most Brits take part in one exchange, although over a fifth (21%) take part in 2 or more”
Share whose exchange is with work colleagues	78%	“The main groups that people take part in Secret Santa with include work colleagues (78%)”
Share whose exchange is with friends	30%	“friends (30%)”
Share whose exchange is with family	26%	“and family (26%)”

Source: Confused.com press release, 25 November 2025 · read 2026-11-02

instantprintPublisher's own page

instantprint (Bluetree Print Ltd) · UK office workers · n = 1,000 · fieldwork not stated on the page · published 31 Oct 2024 · GBP

Measure	Value	Source wording
Share who spend £5–£10 on a Secret Santa gift	48%	“The average spend tends to stay modest, with 48% spending between £5 and £10”
Share who would consider spending £30 or more	1%	“while only 1% would consider spending £30 or more”

Source: instantprint Secret Santa Survey 2024, 31 October 2024 · read 2026-11-02

Big LotsReported by a named outlet

OnePoll · US adults who celebrate Christmas and plan to take part in a gift exchange · n = 2,000 · fieldwork 8–9 Nov 2023 · published 23 Dec 2023 (as reported) · USD

Measure	Value	Source wording
Average gift-exchange spending limit per exchange	$49	“Three in four will face budget limits on gift exchanges this year, averaging $49 per exchange”
Share who say they will likely go past the limit	87%	“but 87 percent admit they'll likely go past the limit”
Share who take part in a Secret Santa (rather than White Elephant)	54%	“54 percent participate in Secret Santas and 48 percent in White Elephants”

Source: StudyFinds report of the Big Lots / OnePoll study, 23 December 2023 · read 2026-11-02

Freenow by LyftReported by a named outlet

Censuswide · UK consumers, with a London cut reported · n = 1,000 · fieldwork November 2025 (day-level dates not stated) · published 9 Dec 2025 (as reported) · GBP

Measure	Value	Source wording
Londoners who overspend on Secret Santa	nearly three-quarters	“nearly three-quarters of Londoners overspend on their Secret Santa gifts”
Share of those overspenders who go £11–£50 over budget	67%	“with two-thirds (67%) of them spending between £11-50 over budget”

Source: London TV report of the Freenow by Lyft / Censuswide study, 9 December 2025 · read 2026-11-02

Method

Every row is one finding from one survey. The sample size, population, fieldwork dates and currency are the survey's own, copied from the source page on 2026-11-02.
No average across surveys. Methods, populations, currencies and years differ, so the rows are shown side by side, never combined.
No currency conversion. Pounds stay pounds and dollars stay dollars.
“Primary” means the publisher's own page. “Reported by a named outlet” means the publisher's release could not be reached and a named outlet reproduces the study's methodology and wording; those rows are labelled and should be read with that in mind.
Where a survey published no fieldwork dates or no research house, the page says so instead of filling it in.
Percentages are shown as published. The 1% figure is “would consider”, which is intent, not spend.

2026 group budgets: not published

The draw tool records a budget for each group, but whether that budget is stored on the server, and where, is not confirmed. This page therefore publishes public surveys only. A 2026 season section will be added when the budget data is confirmed stored and at least 100 non-test groups have a USD budget; it will show the median, the P25–P75 range, the group count and the date range, aggregate only, with no group names.

Download the data

data.csvCSV · 13 findings · one row per finding, with sample, date, currency and quote chart.pngPNG · 1600 × 900 · spend and overspend chart.svgSVG · same chart, vector chart-groups.pngPNG · 1600 × 900 · who people exchange with chart-groups.svgSVG · same chart, vector chart-bands.pngPNG · 1600 × 900 · published spend bands chart-bands.svgSVG · same chart, vector

Sources

Confused.com (research by OnePoll) — https://www.confused.com/press/releases/2025/secret-santa-saves-brits-an-average-of-75-pound-on-christmas-gifts — publisher's own page — read 2026-11-02
instantprint (research by instantprint (Bluetree Print Ltd)) — https://www.instantprint.co.uk/printspiration/be-inspired/the-secret-santa-survey-2024 — publisher's own page — read 2026-11-02
Big Lots (research by OnePoll) — https://studyfinds.org/24-billion-gift-exchanges-holidays/ — reported by a named outlet — read 2026-11-02
Freenow by Lyft (research by Censuswide) — https://london-tv.co.uk/secret-santa-splurge-70-of-londoners-blow-their-secret-santa-budget/ — reported by a named outlet — read 2026-11-02

Cite this page

License: the CSV and charts are published under CC BY 4.0. Credit SecretsantaName and link to this page. Survey figures belong to their publishers. Suggested citation:

SecretsantaName. "Secret Santa Budget Statistics: What Surveys Show." November 2026. https://secretsantaname.com/data/secret-santa-budget-statistics/

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<img src="https://secretsantaname.com/data/secret-santa-budget-statistics/chart.png" alt="Average Secret Santa spend and average overspend, Confused.com/OnePoll 2025" width="800"></a>
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Changelog

Date	Change
2026-11-02	First publication: 13 findings from 4 surveys, three charts, CSV, method and labelled secondary sources.

Last updated: 2026-11-02