It is not unusual to celebrate holiday festivities with a toast, but how many people plan to go to a bar to get alcohol on Christmas Day? New data from Statista reveals that while some American adults do plan to go out drinking on Christmas, the number of British adults who plan to go to a pub surpasses the number of Britons who plan to go to church that day.
“One in five adults in the United States say they plan to go to church on Christmas Day this year,” writes Martin Armstrong of Statista. “Some people, however, intend to worship at a very different altar come December 25.”
RELATED: Sharing Christ at Christmas: What the Stats Say
Alcohol on Christmas…At a Bar?
The Statista Global Consumer Survey collected data on the Christmas Day plans of adults throughout the world. Nineteen percent of adults in the U.S. said they plan to attend church on Christmas Day this year, while 6% said they are planning to head to a bar that day.
To be fair, just because people are going out to get a drink on Christmas does not necessarily mean they have made alcohol an “altar.” Armstrong does note that the survey took more than one response from consumers regarding their Christmas Day plans, so it is possible that respondents who are going to a bar also plan to attend church. “The order of events could prove important, though,” he adds.
In contrast to American consumers, fewer people in the U.K. say they plan to go to church on Christmas and more say they plan to go to a pub. Eleven percent of British consumers plan to go out to drink alcohol on Christmas Day, compared to 8% who plan to go to church. In Germany, only 3% of respondents expressed interest in going to a bar on Christmas, while 11% plan to attend church.
One in five adults in the United States say they plan to go to church on #Christmas Day this year. The battle between church and pub is also won by the more holy side in Germany. In the UK, on the other hand, the pull of the boozer is seemingly stronger than that of the church. pic.twitter.com/PGeh7FT1vv
— Statista (@StatistaCharts) November 30, 2022
The U.K. has already been in the news this week regarding the religiosity, or lack thereof, of its citizens. The most recent census of the population of England and Wales found that, for the first time, Christians are in the minority in those areas.
There is, of course, no direct tie between this data and the Christmas Day drinking plans of Britons. Christians after all have different convictions about the permissibility of drinking alcohol, with some abstaining and others drinking in certain cases. It is interesting, however, to consider the two pieces of information side by side.
And even though many Christian traditions frown on drinking, there are church leaders who see alcohol as a door for outreach. As ChurchLeaders reported in September 2021, Pastor Danny Lybarger of The Well church in Defiance, Missouri, actually holds Sunday service in a brewery.
