Christmas Gift Trends and Popularity Statistics 2026: What People Give, Want and Buy

The top items consumers plan to gift are clothing and accessories (50%), gift cards (43%), and toys (32%), according to the National Retail Federation’s final survey before Thanksgiving 2025. What people want back is different: the top gifts consumers would like to receive include gift cards (50%), which puts the most-requested present in second place on shopping lists. Christmas gift trends for the next season look steady too. PwC’s Holiday Outlook 2026 found that on average, consumers expect to spend $708 on gifts this year, with gift spending projected to dip just 2% YoY.

The data below tracks what Americans give and ask for, how much they budget, which gifts sold best online in the 2025 season, and the gift trends forming for Christmas 2026, from gift cards and toys to secondhand, screen-free, and AI-assisted gifting.

Key Takeaways

• Clothing’s lead is narrowing: clothing (56%) topped NRF’s 2023 list, clothing (54%) led in 2024, and clothing and accessories (50%) led in 2025.
• Gift cards top the wish list, with gift cards (50%) leading what people want to receive, yet gift cards (43%) rank second among gifts people plan to give.
• Gallup found Americans now estimate they will spend an average $778 on Christmas or other holiday gifts, down $229 from October’s $1,007, and this year’s midseason decline is the largest Gallup has recorded.
• The cut fell unevenly: households earning less than $50,000 have cut their projected spending to $384, while middle-income earners currently predict spending an average of $842.
• For 2026, PwC reports consumers expect to spend $708 on gifts this year, and screen-free gifts are a priority for 78% among Gen Z.
• Appliances rode the gift surge online, with refrigerators and freezers (up 360%) and washers and dryers (up 350%) against October spending levels, per Adobe.
• Secondhand is a real gift channel: consumers plan to dedicate nearly 40% of their total holiday budgets to secondhand gifts, according to ThredUp’s 2025 Holiday Report.

Editor’s Choice

• Planned holiday spend per person: $890.49 per person on average, of which $627.93 will go to gifts for family and friends, per NRF.
• Gift card spending: Total gift card spending is expected to reach $29.1 billion, up from $28.6 billion in 2024.
• US online holiday sales: Consumers spent $257.8 billion online from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, up 6.8% year over year, per Adobe.
• Electronics online spend: Of the season’s online total, Adobe found over half (54%) was driven by three categories, including electronics ($59.8 billion, up 8.2% YoY).
• Pokémon toy sales: Pokémon emerged as the top toy property, posting $2.5 billion in U.S. sales, up 87% year over year, per Circana.
• Gallup October gift estimate: consumers expected to spend an average of $1,007 on gifts this season before the November cut.
• 2026 holiday sales forecast: Deloitte projects sales between $1.70 trillion and $1.71 trillion during the November 2026 through January 2027 period.

Most Popular Christmas Gifts to Give

Every figure comes from a primary publisher: NRF and Prosper Insights surveys, Gallup polls, consultancy surveys from PwC and Deloitte, first-party data from Adobe, Circana and ThredUp, and company research from Zeta Global, Salesforce and Finder. Publication dates run from November 2023 to September 2026. Only figures visible on the publisher’s own page were used, and they are updated on a rolling basis as new editions appear.

• NRF’s 2025 wording groups the category as clothing and accessories, while its 2023 and 2024 surveys reported clothing alone.
• In 2023, a record 28% of consumers intend to buy personal care and beauty items as gifts this holiday season, up from about one-quarter in recent years.
• Social platforms steer the youngest buyers, with those between the ages of 18-24 more likely to find inspiration through platforms such as TikTok (28%) and Instagram (27%) in NRF’s 2024 survey.
• These shoppers are also more likely than any other age group to purchase jewelry, with 30% planning to gift these items.
• Timing matters for gift lists: as of early November, 58% of consumers said they have already started their holiday shopping.
• Even so, on average, holiday shoppers have completed around one-quarter (26%) of their planned purchases by that point.
• Gifting extends to charity, as about two-thirds (67%) plan to embrace the spirit of giving and engage in at least one charitable activity.
• Nearly all U.S. adults (91%) plan to celebrate winter holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, per NRF’s October 2025 survey.

Source: NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics holiday surveys, November 2023, November 2024 and November 2025

What is the most bought Christmas present this year?

Clothing is still the most-given Christmas present category. In NRF’s latest full season, the top items consumers plan to gift are clothing and accessories (50%), gift cards (43%), and toys (32%). NRF has not yet published its 2026 gift-category survey, so the 2025 ranking is the most current one available.

Most Wanted Christmas Gifts to Receive

• The want list and the give list diverge: gift cards rank second among gifts people plan to give (43%), although they lead the list of gifts people want at 50%.
• Older shoppers are the most committed buyers: over half of those aged 65 or over plan to purchase a gift card this holiday season, more than any other age group.
• Interestingly, these consumers are also most likely to say they’d like to receive a gift card this holiday season, so older shoppers sit on both sides of the trade.
• For 2026, PwC lists the top five gifts for adult family and friends: gift cards, apparel, beauty products, consumables, and accessories.
• NRF’s wish-list data comes from a large sample: the survey asked 8,247 adult consumers about their holiday shopping plans.
• It was conducted Oct. 1-7 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.
• Where people shop for those gifts matters too: online continues to be the top holiday shopping destination, with 55% planning to make purchases digitally.

Why it matters: In NRF’s 2025 surveys, gift cards (50%) lead the wish list, while gift cards (43%) trail clothing among gifts given. Finder’s forecast adds that clothing and accessories are the most unwanted gifts at 43%. Givers keep choosing the category recipients are least likely to keep.

Recent Developments

• September 10, 2026: In its September 2026 forecast, Deloitte said holiday retail sales are projected to total between $1.70 trillion and $1.71 trillion, representing an increase of 4.0% to 4.8% from the same period in 2025.
• September 8, 2026: PwC’s Holiday Outlook 2026 found gift spending looks resilient, projected to dip just 2% YoY, despite historic lows in consumer confidence.
• September 8, 2026: PwC also reported that eight in ten consumers plan to adopt a budgeting strategy this season, and 79% say deals and discounts influence when they shop.
• July 30, 2026: Zeta Global’s survey found more than half of consumers plan to spend over $500 on gifts this year, including one in three who expect to spend $1,000 or more.
• July 20, 2026: Salesforce reported consumer pessimism is up 16% over last year, and 13% more shoppers report that their financial situation is getting worse.
• July 20, 2026: Salesforce also found 50% of shoppers report using an AI assistant at some point in the buying process.

Christmas Gift Trends and Spending Plans for 2026

• PwC fielded its survey as sentiment sank: consumer confidence fell 18.5% YoY, according to the University of Michigan’s index (from 60.7 in June 2025 to 49.5 in June 2026 when the survey was fielded).
• Gifts are the line item people protect, since for most households, the presents under the tree or by the candles aren’t going to get cut.
• Zeta Global’s survey of 7,600 U.S. consumers shows the low end thinning: the only tier to shrink was those planning to spend less than $100.
• Deloitte expects online to keep outgrowing the total, with e-commerce sales between $316.1 billion and $318.9 billion this season.
• In 2025, holiday sales increased by 4.1% in the same period, the base the 2026 forecast builds on, and the Christmas retail sales trends show where that growth landed.
• Traffic does not guarantee gift orders: Salesforce says global digital traffic grew 18% in Q2, but order volume barely moved; it’s up just 1%.
• Cart abandonment sitting at 82% keeps many gift baskets from converting, per the Salesforce Shopping Index.

What are the gift trends for 2026?

The early 2026 gift trends point to steady budgets and a turn away from screens. PwC found consumers overall expect to spend $708 on gifts, with households with children expecting to spend more ($875) than households without children ($635), and that screen-free gifts are a priority for 78% among Gen Z.

How Much Americans Plan to Spend on Christmas Gifts

• Gallup’s early read was steady: that is similar to the historically elevated $1,014 they predicted at this time last year, but up from $923 in 2023.
• Gift buying is near universal, with at least 86% of consumers planning to buy gifts this year.
• The majority of Americans say they’ll spend about the same as they did the prior year, though this year’s 56% is slightly below the average of 60% for the trend since 2006.
• At the same time, 19%, slightly above the long-term average of 14%, think they’ll spend more in Gallup’s October poll.
• NRF puts gifts inside a larger budget: the remaining $262.56 will be used on seasonal items like food or candy, decorations, and greeting cards beyond gifts.
• The amount is the second-highest in the survey’s 23-year history and falls only 1.3% short of last year’s record of $901.99, according to NRF.
• Deloitte found surveyed consumers plan to spend an average of $1,595, down 10% year-over-year on the whole season.
• Gift counts held up, with the average number of gifts purchased this year staying relatively steady at eight versus nine in 2024.

By the numbers: Gallup’s first 2025 reading had 37% predict spending $1,000 or more on gifts. By November, Americans now estimate they will spend an average $778, and the figure is also significantly below last year’s November estimate of $1,012. The swing shows how quickly gift plans react to economic news.

Source: Gallup holiday spending polls, October 2025 and December 2025 releases

Christmas Gift Budgets by Household Income

• Top earners cut the most in dollars: Americans in households earning $100,000 or more now predict spending $1,230 on holiday gifts, down from $1,479 in October.
• Middle-income earners currently predict spending an average of $842, similar to their October estimate of $847, the only steady group.
• Consumers often trim their holiday spending plans as the season progresses, including by more than $40 in 11 of the 19 years since 2006 for which Gallup has both October and November readings. It has only increased by at least $40 in four.
• However, this year’s midseason decline is the largest Gallup has recorded, surpassing the $185 drop seen during the 2008 global financial crisis.
• Few people say they are cutting: only 29% of Americans say they plan to spend less than last year.
• This reading is up modestly from 23% in October and from November 2024, but well below the 46% recorded in November 2008.
• The majority of Americans (53%) still say they will spend “about the same,” Gallup found.
• The broader shift in holiday season consumer behavior shows the same caution in how shoppers time and stretch their budgets.

Source: Gallup holiday spending polls, 2024 and 2025

Gift Card Popularity Statistics

• Gift cards reach a wide share of buyers: 43% of shoppers plan to purchase at least one gift card this season.
• Consumers plan to purchase between three and four gift cards each, according to NRF.
• Those 65 and older expect to spend $58 per card, about $5 more than the average shopper.
• Consumers say they like how gift cards let recipients pick out their own gifts and can be easier and faster to purchase than other items.
• Gift cards rank as the second-most popular gift this holiday season and total spending on gift cards is expected to reach $29 billion this year.
• Payment for gifts stays on debit: for the fifth consecutive year, debit cards (44%) remain the most popular payment method for purchasing holiday gifts, followed by credit cards at 37% and cash at 16%.
• 59% of consumers plan to use digital wallets and apps, in line with recent years.

Source: NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics holiday surveys, 2023 to 2025

Restaurant cards stay the most popular gift card type, though their share slipped to 27% in 2025 from 30% in 2024, per NRF.

Source: NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics holiday surveys, 2023 to 2025

Top-Selling Christmas Gifts Online

• Adobe’s toy hot sellers were led by toys such as LEGO Icons sets, Wicked dolls, Furreal plush toys, LeapFrog Learning toys, Hot Wheels sets, Fisher-Price Little People, Bluey Playsets, Nerf guns, Play-Doh sets and DIY craft kits.
• Top-selling gaming consoles included Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation Portal across the season.
• Home and kitchen gifts made the list too: other hot sellers included mirrorless digital cameras (Sony A7IV), Apple Watch Series 11, fragrance sets, luggage sets, cordless vacuum cleaners, Ray-Ban Meta glasses, air fryers, cookware sets, and stainless steel tumblers.
• Electronics led online holiday spend at $59.8 billion, ahead of apparel ($49.0 billion) and furniture ($31.1 billion), per Adobe.
• The gift rush peaked around one week, per Adobe’s holiday season recap: Cyber Week (the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday), which brought in $44.2 billion online overall, up 7.7% YoY.
• Cyber Monday remained the biggest e-commerce day of the season (and year), driving $14.25 billion in online spend, up 7.1% YoY.
• Cyber Monday growth was outpaced by Black Friday ($11.8 billion, up 9.1% YoY), as consumers embraced earlier deals.
• The wider holiday season e-commerce statistics cover the mobile, payment, and traffic side of the same season.

What is the hottest Christmas item this year?

Adobe’s 2025 season data is the latest full read on the hottest Christmas items. Adobe reported that this season’s top-selling items included toys such as LEGO Icons sets, Wicked dolls, and Furreal plush toys, while top-selling gaming consoles included Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PlayStation Portal. A 2026 list will only exist once the season’s sales are counted in January.

Fastest-Growing Christmas Gift Categories

• Deep discounts fed that growth: shoppers found great deals in electronics, where discounts peaked at 30.9% off listed price (vs. 30.1% in 2024).
• Toys at 29.6% (28% in 2024) and apparel at 25.1% (23.2% in 2024) were the next-deepest discounts Adobe tracked.
• Appliance deals were shallower, with appliances at 20.2% off listed price, up from 19.2% in 2024.
• Video games posted the biggest online sales lift at 415%, followed by hand tools (395%) and refrigerators and freezers (360%).
• Beauty and style also climbed: fragrance (up 295%), holiday decor (up 285%), smartwatches (up 285%), power tools (up 280%) and earrings (up 275%).
• Adobe measured every growth rate here compared to pre-season spending levels in October 2025, so the figures show the size of the holiday spike.
• The appliance categories in this chart line up with the best-selling home appliances during Christmas, where fridges, laundry and kitchen machines are broken out.

Christmas Toy Trends and Top Toys

• Parents plan early: as of early November, nearly three-quarters of parents already know which toys they’re gifting the kids in their lives.
• Time-tested toys remain at the top of the lists this holiday season, as Barbies, Legos, Hot Wheels and dolls continue to capture kids’ imaginations.
• The viral Labubu made its way into girls’ top 10 at No. 4, and Nintendo rose to No. 4 on their list after the video game company released a new, must-have Switch 2 console earlier this year among boys.
• A year earlier, the top five toys for boys included Legos, Hot Wheels, cars, video games and PlayStation, while for girls, the top five toys included Barbie, dolls, Legos, makeup/beauty and Disney items.
• Circana tracked a rebound: total annual dollar sales grew by +6%, as average selling price (ASP) rose +4% and, notably, units sold increased +3%.
• Compared with 2020, total U.S. toy sales are now up +16%, per Circana.
• Games and puzzles led the supercategories with 37% dollar sales growth, ahead of explorative and other toys (20%) and building sets (15%), per Circana.
• Pricier toys won: toys priced $30 to $69.99 grew 18% year over year, the fastest of any segment.
• Lower-priced segments under $5 and the $15 to $19.99 range posted the steepest declines.

Key finding: Circana reports that these three supercategories contributed 92% of all toy industry growth in 2025, and Pokémon emerged as the top toy property, posting $2.5 billion in U.S. sales, up 87% year over year. Collectibles and licensed trading cards carried the toy aisle while dolls and outdoor toys lost ground.

Secondhand and Resale Christmas Gifts

• ThredUp’s figures come from its 2025 Holiday Report release, the study, conducted by GlobalData and surveying 2,000 consumers.
• Resale takes a bigger share at Christmas than usual, up from the 30% they typically spend on resale in their everyday shopping.
• Nearly 66% of all consumers are open to giving secondhand gifts, a figure that jumps to 80% for Millennials.
• Accessories such as handbags, jewelry and scarves top the secondhand gifts shoppers considered (40%), ahead of women’s apparel (36%), per ThredUp.
• The top reasons for turning to resale are saving money/better value (62%) and finding unique, one-of-a-kind items (56%).
• Some shoppers sell to buy: nearly 47% of respondents plan to or are considering selling their own items (e.g., apparel, electronics, luxury goods) to help pay for gifts.
• NRF found similar openness, with over half (59%) saying they would consider buying a secondhand gift for someone else.
• Books and other media are the most popular secondhand items consumers would consider giving as a gift this holiday season, per NRF.
• Prices pushed the shift: 85% say they expect prices for gifts and other holiday items will be higher this year specifically because of tariffs.

Screen-Free and Experience Gift Trends

• The digital generation is leading an analog gift revival: 64% of consumers are drawn to nostalgic, screen-free gifts this year, and that share climbs to 78% among Gen Z, per PwC.
• Shopping lists read retro: board games, books, art supplies and puzzles, with 41% of those buying gifts for kids leaning into screen-free, hands-on activities against 27% buying tech devices.
• Stores benefit from the same mood: 71% of Gen Z say they enjoy browsing in person, and 61% say the décor and atmosphere make the season feel real.
• Receipts from the 2025 season already showed the shift, as PwC found books, home furnishings, and baby/toys surged higher than apparel, electronics, and beauty.
• Wellness gifts rode along, with PwC noting that the rise of outcomes-based buying and wellness-minded behavior, tied in part to the growing adoption of GLP-1 medications, probably drove interest in health-tracking wearables.

Source: PwC Holiday Outlook 2026, survey fielded June 2026

AI and Online Gift Discovery

• 29% of consumers plan to use AI somewhere in their holiday shopping this year, up from 22% last year, per PwC.
• AI works as a research tool first: three-quarters of AI users lean on it to research products, and 55% use it to compare prices.
• Every generation uses AI to find new gift ideas: 73% of Gen Z AI users turn to it for ideas they would not otherwise have considered, against 60% of baby boomers (68% overall), per PwC.
• Stores still lead gift decisions, as more than half (52%) of all consumers expect to visit stores in person to decide what to give, ahead of search engines (42%), social media (29%), and AI-powered tools (14%).
• 60% expect to purchase gifts in-store, compared with 38% on brand/retailer websites, 9% on social media, and just 4% through AI tools.
• Adobe found traffic to retail sites from generative AI tools (shoppers clicking on a link to a retail site) increased by 693.4% compared to the year prior in the 2025 season.
• These services were used most in categories including video games, toys, appliances, electronics, and personal care products, per Adobe.
• Salesforce reports that 74% of shoppers say they trust the product recommendations they receive from AI chat.
• Confidence lags the tools: Zeta Global found only 49% of consumers say they feel confident after making a holiday purchase.
• Traditional sources still count, with NRF listing online search (41%), friends and family (35%), within a retail store (28%), and wish lists (23%) as the top gift inspiration sources. More detail is in the online shopping trends for Christmas.

Regifting and Unwanted Christmas Gifts

• Regifting is mainstream: Deloitte found shoppers plan to trade down on brands and retailers (77%), regift items they don’t like or want (52%), and even make their own gifts (49%).
• Most consumers surveyed plan to seek out deals (89%), which includes shopping during promotional weeks (75%).
• Non-gift spending takes the hit first: surveyed shoppers plan to cut back on non-gift purchases like hosting, clothing and décor, a decline of 22% year-over-year.
• Finder forecasts that an estimated 140 million Americans will get an unwanted gift.
• The average cost of an unwanted gift to hit $72 in Finder’s forecast.
• 39% regift their unwanted items, 35% of people just hold on to the unwanted item, and 32% exchange them, according to Finder’s most recent survey.
• Gifts that go back to the store feed the numbers in the Christmas returns and refund statistics.

Worth noting: Finder forecasts that more than half (53%) of American adults will open at least one unwanted present, and Americans will spend around $10.1 billion on presents no one wants. These are forecasts for the 2024 season rather than a fresh survey, so they describe the scale of the problem rather than a current count.

What is the least wanted Christmas gift?

Clothing is the least wanted Christmas gift category. Finder advises shoppers to consider steering clear of clothing and accessories, as it has been the number one most unwanted category according to previous Finder surveys and is forecast to be the top in 2024 at 43%, followed by household items (33%) and cosmetics and fragrances (26%).

Christmas Gift Spending by Generation

• Deloitte saw the young pulling back hardest: Gen Z shoppers are also more anxious than others about higher prices this season (62% of Gen Z, versus 56% of others).
• PwC’s receipts told a different story, as Gen Z actually spent nearly 21% more than last year during the holiday season.
• The same receipt data showed trends pointing to a rise in self-gifting and the resale market, according to PwC.
• For 2026, millennials expect to scale back the most of any generation, cutting gift budgets by 10% YoY and travel budgets by 37% YoY.
• Meanwhile, baby boomers are moving in the other direction, with more discretionary income as major expenses like mortgages and dependent costs recede.
• Deal-seeking peaks among millennials: generationally, millennials (95%) are most likely to seek deals.
• Deloitte found 7 in 10 respondents plan to engage in three or more value-seeking behaviors. Women (78%) are significantly more likely than men (58%) to do so.

Source: Deloitte 2025 Holiday Retail Survey (October 2025), PwC Holiday Outlook 2026 and PwC holiday receipt analysis (January 2026)

Conclusion

Christmas gifting still runs on a few familiar categories. The top items consumers plan to gift are clothing and accessories (50%), gift cards (43%), and toys (32%), yet the top gifts consumers would like to receive include gift cards (50%). Givers who want a present to stick have the data on their side when they pick the card over the sweater, and budgets that looked generous in October can shrink fast when economic news turns.

The first read on the coming season is steady rather than weak: PwC found on average, consumers expect to spend $708 on gifts this year. Gift cards, collectible toys, secondhand finds, and screen-free gifts look set to lead the lists, with appliances such as refrigerators and laundry machines riding the same holiday deal cycle, and check the Christmas gift ideas once the list is set.