Seasonal decorating is part of a wider holiday economy that includes gifts, food, entertainment, travel, candles, lights, and imported decorations. In 2024, the average holiday budget covered all of those spending categories at once, while 2023 trade figures show how strongly the U.S. market depends on international suppliers for Christmas decorations, LED lights, and tapered candles.
Contents
- Holiday budgets include more than gifts
- Food and decor became a larger spending category
- Income, age, and gender shaped planned spending
- Shopping trips and holiday experiences
- Retail sales and the holiday market
- Where seasonal decorations came from
Holiday budgets include more than gifts
The JLL Holiday Shopping report 2024 measured planned holiday spending across gifts, holiday food and decor, and experiences. The average budget was $1,261 per person, 31.7% higher than in 2023. That total is a useful starting point for understanding seasonal decor: decorating purchases compete with gifts and activities for the same overall holiday budget.
Gifts still represented the largest single share, but their share declined. Planned gift spending accounted for 46% of the 2024 holiday budget, compared with 55% in 2023. Planned gift spending nevertheless rose 9.9% year over year. It was also 4.9% below the planned level in both 2022 and 2021, indicating that the annual change depends on the comparison year.
The average shopper’s gift list had 8 people: 3 children and 5 adults. That list size helps put the gift share into context. A budget is not simply a decoration allowance; it is distributed across several recipients and activities before seasonal accents, table settings, candles, or lights are considered.
| Measure | 2024 figure | Comparison or period |
|---|---|---|
| Average holiday budget | $1,261 | 31.7% above 2023 |
| Gift share of budget | 46% | 55% in 2023 |
| Planned gift spending | — | 9.9% above 2023; 4.9% below 2022 and 2021 |
| Average people on gift list | 8 | 3 children and 5 adults |
These are planned spending measures from the JLL Holiday Shopping report 2024, not a record of completed purchases. The distinction matters when using holiday budget statistics for planning a seasonal decorating project.
Food and decor became a larger spending category
The clearest decor-related movement in the JLL Holiday Shopping report 2024 was the increase in planned spending on food and decor. That category jumped 61% from 2023 and was up 32.5% from 2022. Because the report combines food and decor, the figures do not isolate the amount spent on decorations alone. They do show that the combined category occupied a more prominent place in holiday plans.
Holiday entertainment and experiences also expanded. Planned spending on entertainment and experiences surged 56.4% year over year. This shift suggests that seasonal budgets were being allocated across both physical holiday goods and activities, rather than concentrating exclusively on presents.
The composition of holiday plans reinforces that pattern. More than 95% of respondents planned to participate in at least one holiday-related experience, and over 76% planned to participate in two or more. The JLL Holiday Shopping report 2024 therefore describes a season in which decor is part of a broader mix of home, food, retail, and out-of-home experiences.
Shopping-center dwell time also corresponded with different spending plans. Visitors spent an average of 66.2 minutes per visit at shopping centers. People who stayed 30 to 60 minutes planned to spend $718 on gifts, while those who lingered 90 minutes or more planned to spend $424 on food and decor and $406 on entertainment. These figures describe separate planned-spending measures associated with time spent at the center; they should not be added together.
Income, age, and gender shaped planned spending
Income differences produced a wide spread around the $1,261 average holiday budget. Consumers earning more than $150,000 planned to spend 23.6% more than the average per person. Consumers earning less than $50,000 planned to spend 27.4% less than the average. The JLL Holiday Shopping report 2024 also found that middle-income shoppers planned to spend $644 on gifts, which was 10.6% above the average gift-spending figure.
The report’s age findings point to a particularly active 30-to-44 shopper group. These shoppers planned to spend $1,709 per person overall. Compared with the average, their planned spending was 13.1% higher on gifts, 65.4% higher on food and decor, and 44.3% higher on experiences. The food-and-decor difference was the largest of the three category comparisons for this age group.
Gender patterns varied by category rather than moving in one direction. Women planned to spend 22% more than men on gifts. Men planned to spend 26% more than women on food and decor and 21% more than women on experiences. These are category-specific planned-spending comparisons from the JLL Holiday Shopping report 2024, not universal household rules.
Income also affected the number of experiences shoppers expected to have. Among wealthy consumers, 86.9% planned multiple holiday-related experiences. Nearly 38% of shoppers earning less than $50,000 planned to do only one holiday experience. High earners planned an average of 73.1 minutes per shopping-center visit, compared with 66.2 minutes for shoppers overall.
Shopping trips and holiday experiences
Most shoppers planned to visit 3 to 5 stores. That pattern places seasonal decor in a browsing environment where consumers may compare gifts, food, lights, candles, and entertainment in several locations rather than completing every purchase in one trip.
The JLL Holiday Shopping report 2024 recorded the following planned holiday experiences:
- 72.5% planned to dine out at a restaurant.
- 50.2% planned to go to the movies.
- 46.3% planned to attend a live performance, such as theatre or a concert.
- 36.3% planned to visit a kids’ attraction, such as an amusement park or trampoline park.
- 32.1% planned to travel on vacation and stay at a hotel.
- 30.1% planned to visit an entertainment venue, such as minigolf, an arcade, or an escape room.
- 19.3% planned to take children to see Santa.
- 4.0% did not plan to do any holiday-related experiences.
These percentages describe intended participation, and the categories can overlap because a shopper could plan several experiences. More than 95% planned at least one experience, while over 76% planned two or more, so the holiday season in this survey extended well beyond home decoration and gift exchange.
Retail sales and the holiday market
The U.S. Census Bureau Winter Holiday Season 2024 provides a wider retail view using 2023 estimates. U.S. department store retail sales were estimated at $16.6 billion in December 2023. Electronic shopping and mail-order houses recorded estimated retail sales of $131.1 billion in December 2023, the highest monthly total of that year.
Seasonality was also visible in hobby, toy, and game stores. December sales accounted for 13.6% of total sales for that store category in 2023. This is a category-wide December share, not a direct measure of seasonal decor sales, but it helps show how holiday timing affects adjacent retail markets.
The U.S. Census Bureau Winter Holiday Season 2024 also reported $48.3 billion in fourth-quarter 2023 after-tax profits for U.S. retail trade corporations with assets of $50 million or more. That was $4.4 billion higher than the third quarter. The measure covers large retail trade corporations, so it should not be interpreted as the profit of seasonal-decor sellers specifically.
Where seasonal decorations came from
U.S. import figures in the U.S. Census Bureau Winter Holiday Season 2024 show a concentrated supply chain for several seasonal products. Imports of Christmas decorations from China were valued at $2.82 billion in 2023, and China supplied 88.0% of total U.S. Christmas-decoration imports.
LED Christmas tree lights had a different leading supplier. U.S. imports of LED Christmas tree lights were valued at $309.4 million in 2023, while Cambodia supplied 66.0% of total U.S. imports of those lights. The product category and supplier mix therefore differed from the broader Christmas-decoration category.
Tapered candles were another major import category. U.S. imports of tapered candles were valued at $1.04 billion in 2023. Vietnam supplied 53.0% of those imports, and Canada supplied another 15.5%. Those shares identify supplier origins; they do not describe the retail price paid by households or the number of candles purchased.
The same Census Bureau source reported 503 U.S. employer establishments primarily producing dolls, toys, and games in 2022, an increase of 8 establishments from 2021. Those establishments employed 6,377 workers in the March 12 pay period in 2022, up by 673 workers from 2021. California led the nation with 75 establishments producing dolls, toys, and games in 2022.
Taken together, these figures place seasonal decor within a market that includes domestic production, large online retail channels, and substantial imports. The 2023 import values are estimates for that calendar year, while the employment and establishment figures refer to 2022. Keeping those measurement periods separate is essential when comparing the scale of holiday products across the market.
The available evidence points to three distinct layers of seasonal decorating demand: planned household budgets, shopping and entertainment behavior, and the supply of physical goods. In the JLL Holiday Shopping report 2024, food and decor was one of the fastest-growing planned categories. In the U.S. Census Bureau Winter Holiday Season 2024, Christmas decorations, LED lights, and tapered candles each had measurable import markets with different leading suppliers.