How Much Money Is Spent on Valentine’s Day Every Year?
As one of the top shopping holidays in the United States in terms of expenditure per person, Valentine’s Day is an event all ecommerce owners should plan to promote for brand awareness and grow sales.
Recent data shows that the average amount spent per person on Valentine's Day in 2023 was $192.80, a 9.9% increase from the previous year. But how much money is spent on Valentine’s Day every year altogether?
Here’s a look at the overall annual Valentine’s Day spending over the past decade.
How much is spent on Valentine’s Day in the US?
According to the latest statistics on Valentine’s Day spending from the National Retail Federation, US consumers spent a total of $25.9 billion on celebrating the occasion in 2023. This was 8.4% more than the $23.9 billion registered in 2022.
It is also the second-highest annual expenditure ever recorded, after the $27.4 billion buyers spent in 2020. Analysts say that men, in particular, were more likely to spend on Valentine’s Day gifts this year compared to 2022.
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Over the past decade, the total amount of money spent on Valentine’s Day has increased year after year. In 2014, consumers spent $17.3 billion to mark the occasion. This was a 7% fall from the previous year. Expenditure quickly recovered the following year, rising 9.2%, to $18.9 billion, in 2015.
From then on, with the exception of decreases in 2017 and 2021, overall Valentine’s Day spending grew annually, recording historic highs almost every time.
The increasing amount of money spent on Valentine’s Day comes despite falling numbers of people marking the event year after year. In 2013, 60% of consumers celebrated Valentine’s Day. This fell to 54% only a year later and continued to dip in the proceeding years, hitting 51% in 2019—the lowest year on record so far. It rose to 55% in 2020, before falling again to 52% in 2021. In 2023, 52% of consumers celebrated Valentine’s Day, eight percentage points lower than in 2013.
The faster growth rates of the average spend on Valentine's Day may be one reason for this. From 2013 to 2023, the average amount of money spent per person to celebrate the occasion increased by 47.2%. In comparison, total Valentine’s Day spending increased at a slower pace of 39.2%.