Total consumer retail spending on Valentine’s Day is projected to grow this year as a majority of adults plan to celebrate the day with one of their highest-ever outlays, per results from an annual survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF). Total spending is expected to reach $25.9 billion, up from last year’s $23.9 and representing the second-highest figure on record.
Some 52% of Americans plan to celebrate this year (compared to 53% last year), with celebrants’ forecast spend coming out at an average of almost $193, more than $17 in excess of last year’s average, and again marking the second-highest figure since the NRF began tracking Valentine’s Day spending in 2004. The majority ($14) of that $17 increase will come from gifts for pets, friends and co-workers, along with classmates or teachers.
The top-spending age group will be those ages 35-44, with celebrants of this age predicting an impressive per-person spend of $335.71.
As with years past, the most popular gift purchases for respondents will be candy (by 57% of celebrants, similar to last year’s 56%), greeting cards (40%), and flowers (37%). Others will spend on an evening out (32%), jewelry (21%), gift cards (20%) and clothing (19%). Jewelry spending – while high at $5.5 billion in total – is expected to drop from last year’s high-water mark of $6.2 billion.
Meanwhile, there’s been a notable increase in the portion of respondents who plan to give a gift of experience, reaching a new high of 32%, up from 26% last year and the previous high of 28% in 2020 (this question was first asked in 2017).
Finally, fewer will shop online this year (35%) than last (41%) for their Valentine’s Day gifts, while more plan to shop at department stores (34%, up from 32%) and discount stores (31%, up from 28%).
Check out the full survey results here.
About the Data: The results are based on a January survey of 7,616 US adult consumers.
