• Half of Brits (50%) spent on takeaways and food when drunk, making it the most popular category for tipsy spending.
• On average men spent £205.74 more than women while under the influence in 2019.
• 7 in 10 Londoners shopped while intoxicated. This is higher than any other region in the UK.

22, January, 2020, LONDON –

Over half of UK adults (56%) shopped while drunk in 2019, according to shopping comparison website finder.com.

Takeaways and food were the most popular item intoxicated Brits spent on last year, with 1 in 2 Brits (50%) saying that they did this. In second place was clothing (28%), with the average Brit spending £42.76 on shoes, apparel and accessories while under the influence in 2019.

This was followed by gambling and holidays in joint third position, with over a fifth (22%) of Brits admitting to placing bets or elements of a holiday while drunk over the past year. However, it was holidays that Brits splurged the most on, with an average of £115.71 being spent on getaways while drunk.

Over the last year Brits spent an average of £546.88 on drunk purchases; this equates to a total of £28.7 billion across the UK.

Men’s and women’s drunk shopping habits differed with men being more likely than women to shop when under the influence (58% vs 53%). Men were also less careful with their money while drunk, spending £205.74 more than women on average (£654.56 vs £448.82). Additionally, across the 11 categories surveyed, men spent more than women in 9.

London had the highest concentration of drunk shoppers, with 67% of residents here saying they shopped when tipsy. The capital was followed by the North East of England (64%) and then Wales (63%) closely behind. East Midlands and East Anglia had the lowest percentage of drunk shoppers, with under half buying something when drunk (46%).

Generation Z (those born after 1996) was the age group most likely to spend while drinking (81%) and spent £480.44 on average. However, it is generation X (those born 1965–1980) who forks out the most when under the influence with an average individual from this generation spending £685.65 throughout the last year.

To see a full breakdown of the research, including Twitter case studies of unusual drunk purchases, visit: https://www.finder.com/uk/drunk-shopping

Commenting on the findings, Georgia-Rose Johnson, shopping and travel specialist at finder.com, said:

“Our research has highlighted that many Brits are spending money while drunk that they might not spend when they’re sober. These purchases may often be small amounts, but over the course of a year the costs add up.

“If you are looking to reduce your spending there are steps you can take if you are prone to intoxicated shopping sprees. You can delete shopping apps and remove saved credit card information from your phone or laptop, making transactions harder to complete. You can also install finder.com‘s Icebox Chrome extension, which is a free online shopping tool that helps consumers avoid overspending. Items you’re unsure about can be ‘frozen’ for a period of 1–30 days, to allow you time to consider if you really need the product before purchasing it.”

Methodology:

Finder commissioned Onepoll on 23-28 October 2019 to carry out a nationally representative survey of adults aged 18+. A total of 2,000 people were questioned throughout Great Britain, with representative quotas for gender, age and region