Moms and daughters get the cheaper gifts

MOMS and daughters get the cheaper end of the stick when it comes to Christmas presents, with the cost of their gifts falling far short compared to those of dads and sons.

The spending on average for a gift for the family pet also exceeds the spending on a daughter.

Statistics South Africa recently released data that showed the average cost of gifts for each member of the family. An item for mom will cost on average R328.74 this year, down by 11.6% from last November.

A far cry compared to the average costs for a gift for dad: R776.22, up by 1.2%.

For gifts for girls, spending averaged R124.60 this year, a 16.7% increase. Boys had pricier gifts at R173.95 on average, down by 6.2%.

Granny and grandpa were the only ones who reversed the trend. Spending on average for a gift for granny was R225.11 and for grandpa, R106.58.

Families lavish on average R140.23 for a gift for the family pet.

Santa will be working at lightning speed if he is going to reach all the homes in South Africa – a total of 16.6 million. According to Stats SA, Santa will need to visit 430 households a second to complete his deliveries between sunset on December 24 and sunrise on Christmas day.

Factor in some snack time and he may have a slight delay in Limpopo and the Free State, where a few more cookies will be left out for him and extra carrots for his reindeer, as these are the cheapest in the country at R10.66 per 200g of biscuits and R8.14 a kg for carrots.