Despite gloomy economic forecasts, the Swiss are planning to spend a little bit more this Christmas than they did last year.
The consulting firm Deloitte found in a survey that on average each Swiss expected to shell out SFr612 ($661) for gifts.
While that is down SFr6 on the previous year, the total each household plans to spend on Christmas (shopping, special food, social events) has gone up by SFr3 to SFr1,038.
The high cost of goods in Switzerland is reflected in the fact that the amount is more the SFr300 higher than the European average. Deloitte said that Europeans will spend the same on activities and food but a few euros less on gifts this year.
Favourite Swiss presents are books and cash, the agency said. Due to the strong franc, 56 per cent of those surveyed said they would do their Christmas shopping in eurozone countries, compared to 48 per cent in 2010.
Gift-buying online has also become more popular. Nearly half said they are buying their presents online, which is 36 more than last year.
swissinfo.ch
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