It's Beginning to Sound A Lot Like Last Year - new analysis finds Christmas music is on repeat

11 December 2025 - Press release

New study finds 63% of the songs in the 2024 Christmas Top 40 were exactly the same as the year before 

• In contrast no songs were repeated in any of the Christmas Top 40s between 2000 and 2005

• Fairytale of New York has made it into the Christmas Top 40 for 20 years in a row

New research has revealed how more than half of the songs in the Christmas Top 40 are set to be the exact same as last year.

The revelation comes from a new study by SEO agency Dark Horse, which analysed 25 years of the UK Official Singles Charts Top 40s. It focused on the week that the Christmas number one was crowned for each year from 2000 to 2024 to determine which festive favourites have proved the most enduring with UK listeners.

The results revealed that the Christmas charts have transformed since the start of the century, going from a brand new set of songs in the Top 40 each year, to repetition of more than half the singles today. 

Each year in the early 2000s produced a Top 40 that was made up of an entirely different set of songs to the previous year - between 2000 and 2005, not a single song reappeared from one Christmas to the next. Now in the most recent Christmas chart of 2024, a massive 25 of the top 40, or 63%, was the same as in 2023. 

In addition, 29 of the 40 songs (73%) in 2024 were dedicated festive tunes. This is in complete contrast to the Christmas Top 40 of 2000, when just two songs (5%) were actively Christmassy - I Wish it could be a Wombling Christmas by the Wombles ft. Roy Wood and At this Time of Year by Craig from Big Brother.

The analysis found that the first sign of change was in 2006, when Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl landed in the Top 40 for the second year in a row. This marked the beginning of a 20 year run, which is likely to continue this year, as the song was already at number 12 in the most recent Top 40.

Following the Pogues’ retention of a Top 40 spot, the number of repeated songs gradually increased over the years. All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey began its 18 year-straight run in the Top 40 in 2007 while Last Christmas by Wham and Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday became Christmas chart mainstays from 2011 onwards. 

The number of repeated songs hit double figures in 2018, and then jumped to more than half of the Top 40 in 2021, when 22 (55%) songs were the same as the 2020 charts. The most repetitive year was 2023, when 26 songs (65%) had also appeared in the 2022 Top 40.

Only four of the Christmas songs to make the Top 40 in 2024 hadn’t previously appeared in the charts: It Can’t be Christmas by Tom Grennan, A Nonsense Christmas by Sabrina Carpenter, Christmas Magic by Laufey, and Freezing this Christmas, by Sir Starmer & Granny Harmers.

Commenting on the study, Libby Mayfield, Head of Marketing for Dark Horse said: “What this data really shows is that nostalgia has become one of the most powerful forces in modern music. The Christmas charts used to be about new releases fighting for the top spot, but over the last two decades we’ve seen a massive shift toward streaming-driven traditions. People return to the same festive favourites every December, and that loyalty is what keeps these tracks in the Top 40 year after year. 

The analysis also found that there are 21 songs that have appeared in the Top 40 every single one of the last five years, and of those, only three were released after 2000 - Leona Lewis’ One More Sleep and Kelly Clarkson’s Underneath The Tree in 2013, plus Ariana Grande’s Santa Tell Me from 2014. Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano, and Merry Christmas by Ed Sheeran and Elton John have the chance to make it five Top 40s in a row this year, having both charted each year since 2021.

The 1970s and the 1980s were the most productive decades for the songs that have become UK Christmas chart mainstays, with each producing five of the 21 tunes that have made the Top 40 every year since 2020. The 1950s, 1960s and 2010 have each provided three, while there is one each from the 1940s and the 1990s. The 2000s is the only decade without an enduring Christmas song so far.

 

The Top 10 Most Frequently Charting Christmas Songs (2000–2024)

 

Methodology

All chart and streaming data was sourced from the Official Charts and Kworb.net, with streaming figures current as of 28 November 2025. The analysis examined the Official Chart Top 100 for each week a Christmas number one was crowned between 2000 and 2024, focusing on Top 40 overlaps year-on-year.