Christmas statistics

Christmas is the season for kindness, generosity, celebration, gratitude, and of course ... statistics!

Admittedly, kindness and generosity are generally more commonly associated with Christmas than statistics, but this week's blog post features a round-up of Christmas themed statistics, so that was the reason for the rather contrived introduction.

Anyway, without further ado, here are a selection of Christmas themed statistics...

By the glum expression on this dog's face, presumably
he was one of the 30% of dogs with a stingy owner.

1) 30% stingy

According to a survey, 7 out of 10 British dogs get Christmas gifts from their loving owners.

Only 7 out of 10! What sort of stingy dog owner doesn't buy their dog some toys for Christmas!?

2) We wish you a heavy Christmas

If everyone in the world left Santa a glass of milk and some biscuits/cookies, he would consume 475 billion calories in one night! Wow! No wonder Santa is a little on the large size!

If any statistical nerds (like myself) want to check the figures, here are the calculations:

Glass of milk = 150 calories
Calories in two average sized cookies = 100 calories
Total calories per household = 150 + 100 = 250 calories

People in the world = 7.6 billion
Average number of people per household = 4.0 ^*1
Number of houses in the world = 7.6 billion / 4 = 1.9 billion

Total number of calories = 1.9 billion x 250 calories = 475 billion calories!

475 billion calories! Wow! So now you know why Santa is so portly!

^*1 This varies from country to country between a low of 2.03 in Sweden and a high of 7.59 in Kuwait, so I have used 4.0 as a typically representative figure.
https://www.nakono.com/tekcarta/databank/households-average-household-size/

Editor: "Number 3 isn't a statistic."
Charles: "A date is a kind of a statistic."
Editor: "Okay, in the spirit of Christmas, I'll let it pass."

3) Bah humbug in the olden days

Christmas wasn’t officially declared a holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870.

The last US state to declare Christmas a legal holiday was Oklahoma in 1907.

4) Breaking up is hard easy to do

According to data hacked analysed from facebook, two weeks before Christmas is one of the two most 'popular' times of the year for couples to break up. Although perhaps 'popular' might be an inappropriate word, as I'm sure all those break ups aren't very popular with at least one of the affected parties!

Anyway, if you're planning your Christmas shopping, it might be prudent to wait until 13 days before Christmas before splashing your cash!

5) Breaking up is easy hard to do

It's not all bad news though, as Christmas Day itself is the least favourite day of the year for couples to break up.

Be careful at Christmas, and always remember
not to stab yourself with two forks.

6) We wish you a risk-free Christmas

More than 70,000 people were admitted to hospital on Christmas Day of 2012 including unfortunate (or perhaps clumsy) people burning themselves on the Christmas pudding and getting a toy from a cracker stuck in their ear.

7) Christmas with friends

According to statista.com, the majority of people spend Christmas at home, with relatives, or with friends.

71% of people spend Christmas at home.
33% of people spend Christmas at relatives.
17% of people spend Christmas at friends.

Mathematically minded readers may have noticed that the total comes to a total of 121%, so either the people answering the survey have cloned themselves, or a far more likely explanation is that presumably at least 21% of people will be splitting their time between two locations.

8) Speedy Santa

"I'm dreaming of a colour-blind Christmas..."

As mentioned in statistic number 2, there are approximately 1.9 billion homes in the world, so for Santa to visit every home in one night he would need to visit 17,025 homes every second!

Wow! That's fast! Santa must have an extremely quick sleigh! In fact, whoever invented Santa's sleigh should get a job working in formula 1!

Once again, if any mathematical nerds want to check the figures, here's the calculation:

* 1.9 billion homes in the world.
* One night lasts 8 hours. However, due to different time zones, Santa would have an extra 23 hours to deliver all his presents, making a total of 31 hours.
* 31 hours = 111,600 seconds (30 x 60 minutes x 60 seconds)
* 1.9 billion homes / 111,600 seconds = 17,025 homes per second!

In light of Santa's excessive calorie intake, presumably the amazing speed at which he travels is how he manages to burn off the majority of those calories.

If you're after more Christmas related discussion, then check out the blog posts below:
Christmas 'higher or lower' quiz
How to say Merry Christmas in other languages