New Year’s Eve 2025/26: Global Celebrations Set to Outperform Last Year, Unlocking Billions in New Revenue for Local Businesses
ACTDIVATE projects that improved travel volumes, higher disposable spend, and larger-scale city programming will push total direct economic impact beyond $12.0 billion USD in 2025/26, up from an estimated $10.6 billion USD last year.
London / Global — December 2025 — New Year’s Eve is already upon us! NYE remains the most commercially concentrated night on the global events calendar. According to ACTDIVATE Event Intelligence, New Year’s Eve 2025/26 is set to exceed last year’s celebrations across every major metric, generating higher participation, longer dwell times, and significantly greater spend per visitor across the world’s leading celebration cities.
Following a strong but operationally uneven New Year’s Eve 2024/25, ACTDIVATE projects that improved travel volumes, higher disposable spend, and larger-scale city programming will push total direct economic impact beyond $12.0 billion USD in 2025/26, up from an estimated $10.6 billion USD last year.
New Year’s Eve compresses demand into a narrow timeframe — creating both outsized revenue upside and significant operational risk for businesses that fail to anticipate crowd flows, peak hours, and visitor mix.
ACTDIVATE’s analysis focuses on eight of the world’s most iconic New Year’s Eve destinations:
Auckland, Sydney, Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai, Paris, London, and New York
If you would like a more detailed breakdown by individual city please click on the link at the bottom of this article.
Summary from cities analysed via ACTDIVATE’s Event Intelligence Engine, STREAM:
| Metric | NYE 2024/25 | NYE 2025/26 | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cities Analysed | 8 | 8 | — |
| Estimated Participants | ~34.5M | ~38.0M | +10% |
| Avg Spend per Participant | $307 | $315 | +3% |
| Total Economic Impact | $10.6B | $12.0B | +13% |
| Peak Trading Hours | 6–7 hrs | 7–8 hrs | ↑ Longer dwell |
What’s Driving Growth vs Last Year
ACTDIVATE attributes the uplift to four key factors:
Stronger international and regional travel volumes, particularly into London, Paris, Dubai, Sydney, and New York
Higher price tolerance for premium dining, events, and transport
Expanded city-led programming (fireworks, ticketed zones, extended transport hours)
Improved expected clear weather conditions forecast across several regions, increasing outdoor footfall attendance
Small Business Uplift: Bigger Than Last Year
Compared with New Year’s Eve 2024/25, ACTDIVATE projects higher and longer revenue peaks for small and independent operators in 2025/26.
Projected uplift vs a normal winter trading day:
| Category | NYE 2024/25 | NYE 2025/26 |
|---|---|---|
| Food & Beverage | +55–80% | +60–90% |
| Transport & Rideshare | +60–100% | +70–120% |
| Entertainment & Nightlife | +70–130% | +80–150% |
| Convenience & Retail | +35–60% | +40–70% |
Huge spending uplift vs steady state: Importantly also vs steady state demand is lasting longer post-midnight, especially in London, Dubai, Paris, and New York, meaning people are more for longer.
Here is a brief summary breakdown by city by spending potential vs last year :
| City | Est. Spend 2024/25 (USD) | Est. Spend 2025/26 (USD) | YoY Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auckland | $70M | $77M | +10% |
| Sydney | $610M | $670M | +10% |
| Singapore | $420M | $456M | +9% |
| Bangkok | $345M | $378M | +10% |
| Dubai | $940M | $1.04B | +11% |
| Paris | $620M | $680M | +10% |
| London | $1.12B | $1.26B | +13% |
| New York | $1.47B | $1.66B | +13% |
ACTDIVATE’s Event Intelligence Platform helps businesses convert year-on-year insight into real revenue gains by:
Forecasting footfall curves and busyness based on ranking events by projecting demand
Identifying post-midnight opportunity windows
Aligning staffing, inventory, and pricing to crowd flow
Comparing last year vs this year performance by specific areas of the city
Pinpointing where uplift is highest — and why
“This year, the opportunity is larger, more predictable, and more actionable. Event Intelligence is what separates those who benefit from those who miss out.”
About ACTDIVATE
ACTDIVATE provides real-time Event Intelligence for businesses and cities globally by identifying Demand. By integrating event data, mobility signals, and commercial demand proxies, ACTDIVATE enables organisations to plan & prepare in advance so that they can execute and deliver with confidence when demand peaks.
For more information on any of these events or any other events please schedule a demo of ACTDIVATE’s Event Intelligence platform, STREAM, and visit: https://actdivate.com/book-a-demo
