More people are getting into the spirit of helping others this Christmas by buying fair trade gifts, according to international aid agency Oxfam Australia.

From December 1-12, Oxfam sold 18,500 more fair trade products (up 17.4 per cent) and served 8.6 per cent more customers through its 23 shops around Australia compared to the same period last year.This pattern is echoed through the rest of the year, with Australians buying 8.8 per cent more fair tradeproducts through Oxfam’s Shops overall in 2010 so far, compared to the same point in 2009.

“It is heartening that more people are thinking about helping others by buying fair trade this Christmas, especially in this tough retail climate,” said Oxfam’s Director of Trading, Nadine

Silverberg.

“In addition, people are buying more products each time they shop with us compared to a year ago, which greatly assists the producers we work with in developing countries around the world.

“In particular, we’ve seen a huge jump in sales of our Christmas decorations this year, as well as big increases in sales of our fair trade kitchenware and hand-crafted gifts,” Ms Silverberg said.