How Will Washington Holiday Spending Change This Christmas Season?

Is your holiday spending going up or down for the Christmas season? The national average for consumer spending during the Christmas holidays seems to be dropping a little bit, but when you look at the numbers, it's still a lot of money. 

How much will you spend? 

According to axios.com,
‘U.S. consumers plan to spend 5% less this holiday season compared to 2024, according to PwC research. Shoppers in the Northeast and West are projected to outspend the national average of $1,552 per person — which includes gifts, travel and entertainment. Northeasterners plan to increase their spending by 2% from last year, while expectations are down 16% in the West and 4% in the South and Midwest. 

Look, the holidays are still going to happen. The budget is just going to be a little tighter this year than in other years, and we can spend time and energy on why that is the case, but I don't want to go there. 

Gift spending is going down by an average of About 11% from last year and there seems to be a generational divide in holiday spending as well.  

Let's break it down by demographic. 

Baby boomers' spending is actually up 5%, Gen. X is up by 2%, Millennial spending will probably be about the same as last year, and Gen. Z, will be spending about 23% less than last year. 

One thing to note is that all these statistics were captured in a survey that was conducted in June of this year. Holiday Outlook 2025: PwC Since June, a lot of things have changed. Possibly, some of these numbers have changed as well.
Holiday shoppers in the Northeast plan to spend the most
Holiday Outlook 2025: PwC
Holiday shopping faces spending pullback because of tariffs, high prices