Most people want clothing for Christmas gifts this year while books and CDs are the most unwanted gifts, a survey reveals. In the survey of 772 salaried workers by job portal Job Korea released on Monday, 40.4 percent of respondents picked apparel as the gift they wanted most, and it topped the list among both men and women. The survey allowed multiple answers.

For men, small electronic devices like MP3 players came in second with 33.7 percent, followed by cologne and cosmetics with 23 percent, jewelry with 21.9 percent and cash with 21.1 percent.

The second most popular gift among women was jewelry with 36.9 percent, trailed by small electronic devices with 25.9 percent, perfume and cosmetics with 23.9 percent and concert tickets with 21.4 percent.

Books and CDs were the most unwanted gifts among 38.7 percent of respondents. Perfume and cosmetics were also on the list of unwanted gifts, ranking second with 24.1 percent.

Gifts made by the givers themselves were also unpopular. Nearly 18 percent of respondents did not want hand-written Christmas cards while 14.8 percent said no to hand-made scarves, cakes and cookies. Surprise events were rejected by 11.9 percent of respondents.

Some 671 or 86.9 percent of respondents said they plan to give gifts this year, with the largest number or 33.8 percent planning to spend around W30,000 to W50,000 (US$1=W1,184) on each gift. The second most popular budget was the W50,000 to W100,000 range (28.5 percent), followed by W30,000 or less (23.7 percent).

"Young people accounted for a large portion of the respondents, and the economy is tough, so the results show that many prefer practical gifts," a Job Korea manager said.