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Christmas tree prices skyrocket: Up to $350 each

Christmas tree. Australian money notes.
Real Christmas trees have skyrocketed in price, meaning Aussies need to get in quick this festive season. (Source: Getty)

It’ll be more expensive to buy a real Christmas tree this year, as extreme weather conditions create supply shortages.

Christmas tree seller Merlino’s Christmas Trees said 40 per cent of its crops were damaged by wet weather conditions this year.

“We had way too much water which caused a lot of root rot,” Robert Darrigo, manager of Merlino’s Christmas Trees in Sydney’s inner west, told AAP.

“It wasn’t a very warm year so the trees didn’t grow as much.”

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Because of this, Merlino’s Christmas Trees said it will not be selling trees taller than 250 centimetres this year.

Aussies will now need to fork out between $110 and $350 for a traditional Monterey pine tree, based on Merlino’s pricing for a 1.5 metre to 2.75 metre tree. A popular 1.8 metre tree will now cost $140.

According to The Australian, Monterey pine trees are now up to 20 per cent more expensive compared to last year.

Aussies will also need to get in quick, with Merlino’s Christmas Trees expecting to turn away customers by the second week of December due to the supply shortages.

Christmas spending set to soar

Aussies are expected to spend $66 billion in the November to December Christmas trading period, according to new forecasts by the Australian Retailers Association (ARA).

That’s a 6.4 per cent increase on last year’s Christmas spending, and $2 billion more than the ARA previously predicted.

ARA CEO Paul Zahra said the increased numbers will be largely driven by price increases, as well as stronger food and hospitality spending.

“Aussies truly plan to eat, drink and be merry this Christmas. It’s no surprise we are seeing a shift towards food and entertaining with the holiday period over the past two years spent in the shadow of lockdowns,” Zahra said.

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