23% of Germans can't buy Christmas gifts due to inflation
22% say their savings would fall short if they bought gifts, and 3% said they may accrue debts.
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A Christmas stand for baked goods and honey in Stuttgart (PlanetWare)
A representative poll conducted by the Institute for New Social Answers (INSA) has reported that a quarter of the German population say they will not and cannot purchase gifts this year for Christmas as a result of the skyrocketing inflation.
Commissioned by the German newspaper Bild, the poll demonstrated that less than half of those who participated indicated purchasing Christmas gifts can fit within their budget and in their regular income, as opposed to the 23% of respondents who said they wouldn't be able to afford to buy gifts.
22% said their savings would fall short if they did, and 3% said they may accrue debts.
According to Bild, prices for about 120 popular Christmas gifts were analyzed by the price comparison platform Idealo and compared with prices from last year - 56% of Christmas presents are currently more expensive than last year.
Thousands took to the streets in Berlin on November 12 to protest rising food prices, calling for the cooling of the red-hot expenses and for the rich to face higher taxes in light of the ongoing cost of living crisis in Germany. The protestors had many demands to ask from the government in Berlin, and with many banners raised during the protests, one of them demanding the redistribution of wealth through the word "Redistribute!"
The protests took place after several left-wing organizations called on their supporters to take to the streets and demand action from the government to mitigate the rising food and rent prices.
Just earlier this month, INSA also conducted a poll which found that half of Germans feel that the federal government's attempts to address the energy crisis will not secure their wallets throughout the winter.
