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10 December 2012updated 07 Sep 2021 11:53am

The French might not be excited about Christmas but we’ll be getting drunk

A YouGov multi country study of certain European countries finds that Britons will be drinking whilst the French are lonely this festive period

By Raziye Akkoc

While in France only 28% of the population are looking forward to Christmas, here in the UK, a third of us plan to get drunk during the festive period. In fact only 8% of the French will be getting drunk according to YouGov’s EuroTrack survey.

Although it may come as a surprise to a nation of pub-lovers that only a third of us will drink a lot of alcohol, it’s probably not shocking that 56% of us are excited about December 25. After all it means a day off and a chance to watch some TV and eat plenty of good calorific food.

The figures above come from this week’s multi country study of public opinion among residents in France, Britain, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway. The survey takes place to assess frequently the views of parts of Europe.

On their website, Harris MacLeod, YouGov PR executive, said the reason for the lack of festive joy among the French “may lie in the fact that 19% of people in France say they feel lonely at Christmas, the highest proportion of any of the countries we surveyed.”

However those in Norway are excited the most about Christmas with 65% of those polled saying they were looking forward to it.

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In a sign of the economic struggles continuing, in France and Britain, 47% and 41% respectively said they were going to spend less money on Christmas this year.

But on the funny side, nearly a fifth of those polled in Britain and Denmark admitted to kissing a colleague at the Christmas work party. It seems the embarrassing drunk moments Christmas is known for won’t come to an end soon…

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