2024 UK Christmas Tree Statistics, Facts and Trends

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2024

2024 Christmas Tree Statistics, Facts and Trends

Ever since Queen Victoria popularized the Christmas tree, members of the realm have enthusiastically followed suit.

Christmas Trees and Decorations

The British Christmas Tree Growers Association surveys their members and conducts surveys of the general public each year and provides statistics. It is noteworthy that not all Christmas tree farms are members of the BCTGA; our websites includes ALL Christmas tree farms which are open to the public, whether they are members of the BCTGA , another association, or none.

Real

The British Christmas Tree Growers Association says that about 7 million Christmas trees  (the range is 6 to 8 million) are sold in the UK every Christmas season.

More stats:

  • 85% of UK homes have a Christmas tree each year.
  • But 10.5% of the populations (called "Scrooges" ) never put a Christmas tree up
  • The remaining 5% sometimes put a tree up.

Most popular varieties in the United Kingdom

 The most popular varieties in the UK are

  1. Nordmann Fir,
  2. Nobel Fir
  3. Fraser Fir
  4. Norway Spruce
  5. Lodgepole Pine

But there are many other varieties as well, such as the Scots Pine. See this page for descriptions of each variety.  

Tree Prices

The 2022 median (midpoint) price is expected to be about £60. Compare this with the

  • 2022 price = Typical 7 ft tree is £48 to £70
    cheapest tree lot £14.99 for a medium tree (1.5m-1.75m/5-6ft) and £24.99 for a large tree (1.8m-2.1m/6-7ft).

But they go up from there. Here's a sampling:

Tree farms 2022 prices

  • Sussex Trees Fraser Fir, Sussex Fir, Douglas Fir, Blue Spruce ; 4ft - £36 ; 5ft - £45 ; 6ft - £55 ; 7ft - £63 ; 8ft - £80t
  •  Langford Lakes (Somerset)  4 - 5 feet/1.2 - 1.5m. £32. ; 5 - 6 feet/1.5 - 1.8m. £38; 6 - 7 feet/1.8 - 2.1m. £45; 7 - 8 feet/2.1 - 2.4m. £57; 8 - 9 feet/2.4 - 2.7m £70
  • Fillingham (East Midlands)
    Norway Spruce
    100-125cm (Approx 3ft) £16.00, 200-225cm (Approx 7ft) £30.00, 225-250cm (Approx 8ft) £40.00, 250-275cm (Approx 9ft) £50.00, on up past 400-450cm (Approx 15ft) £100.00
    Nordman Fir
    125-150cm (Approx 4ft) £30.00, 150-175cm (Approx 5ft) £35.00, 175-200cm (Approx 6ft) £40.00, 200-225cm (Approx 7ft) £45.00, 225-250cm (Approx 8ft) £55.00, , 50-300cm (Approx 9ft) £65.00
    300-350cm (Approx 11ft) £95.00
    Blue Spruce
    150-175cm (Approx 5ft) £25.00, 175-200cm (Approx 6ft) £30.00

Retail shops 

  • Aldi's:  £14.99 for a medium tree (1.5m-1.75m/5-6ft) and £24.99 for a large tree (1.8m-2.1m/6-7ft).
  • B&Q's cut Nordmann Firs £19 for 1.2m-1.5m (4-5ft), £29 for 1.5m-1.75m (5-6ft) and £39 for 1.8m-2.1m (6-7ft). Now offering delivery for £5 but it's free for orders over £50.
  • Ikea's Nordmann is £29 and you get a £20 Ikea voucher to spend in the new year.

For more about Christmas tree prices and factors that affect them, see this page.

Fake

10 million new fake trees were purchased in 2017.

Want to compare the advantages and disadvantages or real vs. artificial Christmas trees?

Where are the trees grown?

Christmas Trees are grown for sale in all areas of the UK, of course, one thinks of Scotland, growers are everywhere.  Many Christmas trees are also imported, especially from Norway. 

Where are trees purchased?

It looks like half of all consumers are equally split between going to a tree farm verses a big box store. Nurseries, tree lots and non-profit groups make up the other half.

Christmas tree facts

  • A typical 6 to 7 feet high Christmas tree is between 10 and 12 years old.
  • 3 to 4 year old seedlings grown in a nursery are planted by tree farmers and are then grown to maturity.
  • A Christmas tree takes between 4 to 15 years to grow to a typical height (6 - 7 feet) depending upon the variety, weather, etc.; the average growing time is 7 years.
  • The grower fertilises, shapes and prunes the trees, so the ear healthy and cone-shaped. .
  • For every Real Christmas Tree harvested, 1 to 3 seedlings are planted the following spring.
  • There are about 2,000 Christmas tree farms in the U.K.,
  • The roughly 500 million Christmas trees currently growing on commercial tree farms around the world are busy sucking up carbon from the atmosphere! See the graphic at right.

Sources:

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