American consumers are expected to spend $25.9 billion on Valentine’s Day this year, up from $23.9 billion in 2022 and one of the highest spending years on record, according to the annual survey released by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
More than half (52%) plan to celebrate the holiday and will spend an average of $192.80, up from $175.41 in 2022, and the second-highest figure since NRF and Prosper started tracking Valentine’s Day spending in 2004.
Spending on significant others and family members is in line with last year. Of the $17 increase in per-person spending, $14 comes from gifts for pets, friends, and co-workers, along with classmates or teachers.
Similar to recent years, the top shopping destination to purchase Valentine’s Day gifts is online (35%), closely followed by department stores (34%), discount stores (31%) and specialty stores (18%).
The top gifts include candy (57%), greeting cards (40%), flowers (37%), an evening out (32%), jewelry (21%), gift cards (20%) and clothing (19%).
About one-third (32%) of consumers plan to give a gift of experience, up from 26% last year and the highest since NRF and Prosper started asking this question in 2017.
Spending on jewelry is expected to total more than $5.5 billion.
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