A map of the world according to the countries that hate Christmas

Apart from climate change, anxiety about president Trump and the beautiful game; Christmas feels like one of the few things countries around the world share as a collective experience.

But while it’s a given that most British people hate sprouts as much as they love queuing in WHSmith for wrapping paper, other people around the world have very different views on the festive season.

YouGov popped on their antler hats and decided to ask people in Europe, the US and Australia how they feel about Christmas. This is what they found:

Favourites

All countries agree that the best thing about Christmas is seeing friends and family, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end.

The UK ranks Christmas dinner, giving presents and time off work as their next three favourite occurrences.

France, Italy and Sweden, however, prefer Christmas lights instead of time off work.

Materialism

In Spain, 81 per cent of people agree that Christmas is too materialistic, whereas only 66 per cent of French people agree. In the UK, 77 per cent of people think Christmas is too focused on materialism.

Excitement

Germans are the biggest Christmas fans, with 68 per cent looking forward to the holidays. The French, on the other hand, are scrooges in comparison, with 34 per cent dreading Christmas.

The UK ranks third out of eight countries, with two-thirds of people saying they get excited for festivities.

Trees

Germans are also the most likely to have a real tree, and told YouGov that they prefer a real tree, too.

Italians are the biggest fans of artificial trees, with only 10 per cent preferring a real tree. In the UK, 68 per cent of people say they have an artificial tree, 16 per cent opted for real, and 15 per cent didn’t have a tree at all.

This article was originally published in December 2016.