Filling up a Christmas stocking with all sorts of gifts can quickly add up, and the latest study from Gocompare.com has revealed exactly how much people spend.

A wide range of gifts can end up being stocking fillers with people from London spending most – a total of £48 – while those in the north east spend the least with an outlay of just £16 on average.

It means the average spend for a festive stocking is £37 across the UK with chocolate coins, sweets, toiletries and stationary among the most popular present choices.

However, there were widespread variations in the cost and the contents of Christmas stockings in the UK with certain items proving more popular in specific parts of the country.

Popular item choices

Chocolate coins were the most popular stocking filler, expected to appear in 56% of the nation’s stockings this festive season, while other sweets were also popular with 48% of parents revealing they planned to purchase some as stocking fillers.

Toiletries, stationary items and books completed the top five while toys, dolls and board games, hair accessories, DVDs, underwear traditional tangerines were also popular choices.

CDs, jewellery, nuts, jigsaw puzzles, money and calendars were among some of the other items being considered with more than one in ten parents adding that they might put a gift card into their child’s stocking, loaded with funds to spend in a certain store or online.

Regional differences

Presents varied across the country with children living in London more likely than those in other regions to wake up to toys at the end of their bed.

Similarly, those in the south east are most likely to find pens and pencils or a book while one in five people in the east of England will give a gift card.

People in the south west are most likely to put toiletries into their children’s stockings and a tangerine was most likely to be given in Scotland.

Sticking with traditions

Parents taking part in the survey were asked what age they expected to stop giving their child a stocking with more than one fifth (21%) saying they will stop when their kids are 18 years old.

Some 6% of parents said they will continue until some point between their child being aged 19 and 30 while 21% of well-wishing parents said they would never stop.

A Christmas stocking is part of festive experience in many households and it seems these traditions are here to stay.