Grandparents are poised to spend more than £2 billion on providing gifts to children this Christmas, according to a study.

Research from SunLife shows the average grandparent will spend £67.62 on each grandchild in the run-up to 25 December 2018.

Grandparents in the UK typically have four grandchildren, taking the average total spend on grandchildren this Christmas to £270.48.

Ian Atkinson, marketing director at Sunlife, said:

"Grandparent spending looks to have increased from last year.

"With over £2bn being spent, grandchildren today can certainly look forward to more at Christmas than their own grandparents did, and their expectations have probably never been higher."

One in five grandparents said they love to give people presents, while 80% admit they enjoy spoiling their grandchildren at Christmas.

Christmas gifts made by grandparents out of their normal income are usually classed as exempt.

Every individual can give as many gifts of up to £250 per person as they want during the tax year as long as they have not used another exemption on the same person.

Making gifts to family and friends can also be a tax-efficient way to reduce the value of an estate for inheritance tax purposes.

Talk to us about inheritance tax.