??(#20) Economics of Christmas
Costin Ciora, PhD.
CEE Advisor at Simon-Kucher | Financial Analysis Assistant Professor at ASE | Founder of Ciora Financial Analysis | Financial Analysis, Strategy, Pricing Expert | Author
Hello,
This is edition #20 of my newsletter "The Story Behind The Numbers". Check also the previous editions here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/newsletters/7160324639691309056/
This analysis is powered by CIORA Financial Analysis. Partners: 5 to go & Pilot Books
In this analysis, my focus was on Christmas, with some stats about the holiday but also about the economic impact.
Disclaimer: This newsletter is written on my role of Assistant Professor in the Department of Financial Analysis and Valuation from The Bucharest University of Economic Studies and Managing Director of CIORA Financial Analysis - providing financial analysis services & workshop delivery for startups & SMEs. This analysis reflects only my views based on the available date. The purpose of this newsletter is to connect the story with the numbers, or sometimes the numbers with the actual story. It is, of course, my own view on the topics without any investment recommendation. I hope we can start conversations around the points below.
First, a little bit of numbers related to Christmas.
According to "more than 2 billion people in over 160 countries consider Christmas to be one of the most important dates in the calendar" Bureauworks.com
As you can see in this visual below, the origin of this holiday is since 4th century with St. Nicholas renown for his gifts to the poor.
The map below shows the percentage of Christians by country, whole the one below shows the number Public Holidays for Christmas.
When it comes to buying Christmas related products, the map below highlights the differences between European Copuntries, with Germany being the most "Christmassy" based on an analysis by Musement.
Economics
When it comes to economic impact of Christmas we can look into the products that are relevant for this holiday. We can focus on gifts and general consumer goods, but also on Christmas Decorations.
In this analysis by Straits Research you can see the value of exports and imports of Christmas Decorations, with China being the leader in Christmas Decoration with 10 bln dolars in 2022. 87,6% of decorations in 2020 were from China, with a export value back then of 6,62 bln $.
In Europe, UK is estimated to have the highest spending in retail with 88 billion British Pounds, followed by Germany with 73.
Holidays bring higher online shoppping as seen in this graph by Visual Capitalist below.
In the same time, in USA the holiday retails sales are expected to reach 972 billion $ in 2024, an increase of 4,76% compared to the previous year.
I analysed the toys sector here (#12) Toys Industry: analysis and financials https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/12-toys-industry-analysis-financials-costin-ciora-phd-bxikf/?trackingId=PVnm794FTnux4GT%2Bqk6o2Q%3D%3D
领英推荐
but below is also an updated of the Mattel's sales by quarter. The Holiday season bring high sales. Quarter 3 & 4 are the quarters with highest sales in the last 6 years.
In UK, an analysis of Bank of England shows the percentage increase in sales by categories. Books, newspapers and periodicals have the highest increase with 110% while music equipment or computers and phone follow.
Buying during Christmas is also subject to different generations as presented below by Economic Observatory.
Finally, here's a statistics of the time needed for Christmas Preparation by GeoAwesome, on an analysis that considers 270 hours for Christmas preparations.
Things to watch:
Wishing you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Costin Ciora, PhD.
References & interesting resources:
Merry Christmass!
Managing Partner at Simon-Kucher & Partners | Pricing, Revenue Management and Strategy
2 个月Costin Ciora, PhD. Happy to be a part of the plan for 2025 ??