The Cost of Christmas Past: Can you guess how the price of festive treats has changed?

The average cost of Christmas has doubled in the last 20 years - but not everything that makes the festive season so special has gone up at the same rate.
The price of a Christmas pudding has gone up. Photo: PA Photo/thinkstockphotosThe price of a Christmas pudding has gone up. Photo: PA Photo/thinkstockphotos
The price of a Christmas pudding has gone up. Photo: PA Photo/thinkstockphotos

So much so, loan company Provident Personal Credit has put together a quiz to test your knowledge on what is driving up the bills.

Here’s some of the Christmas treats that have boomed - and some that remain cheap and cheerful.

Food

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Traditional Christmas treats like Cadbury’s Rose chocolates, Christmas pudding and a festive pint have all gone up by £1 or two since 2008 which is not as noticeable as turkey which has almost doubled in price in the same time period. If you are looking for cheap Christmas treats this year, stick with minced pies that are actually cheaper than they were in 2008, going from £1.19 to 89p for a box of six.

Music

The price of music is rolling back to the 80s, which is a good thing. The Band Aid Christmas single Do They Know It’s Christmas released in 1984 cost £1.35. Price of music rocketed in 2000 with Christmas albums costing as much as £15.99, but thanks to paid streaming websites and easy downloads now we can spread Christmas cheer for as low as little as 0.99p a song.

Decorations

While the overall cost of Christmas might be doubling, it seems splurging out on decorations is no longer the fashion. Last year the average amount spent per person on Christmas decorations was £43 which is lower than 2003 average of £46.41. Those looking to take part in Christmas jumper day will be happy to know that the cost of Christmas jumpers is also dropping in price. Last year people were splashing out around £30 on festive jumpers, but if you think that’s expensive, back in 2011 they were nearly £40.

Toys

This might explain why the price of Christmas has doubled over the years, the cost of children toys has gone through the roof. Parents can expect to pay £260 for a PlayStation 4 to keep their kids smiling on Christmas day, but back in 1997 the Tamagotchi cost a mere £13 and kids were obsessed. And if you need more proof, the Pog game cost a mere £2 in 1995 and were all the rage.

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With prices fluctuating throughout the years, there’s only one thing that has remained exactly the same price in the last 8 years. You can pick up Santa’s costume for £9.99 today and rest assured it hasn’t been affected by inflation.

Take the Christmas price test here

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