You don’t bring me flowers, anymore

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone and apologies to Barbra and Neil for abusing your song title. Plus: If you are in a relationship and forgot to buy your other half a present, consider this your reminder. You can thank me later.

If you want to know what to buy for Valentine’s Day, the National Retail Foundation in the US has a handy database that allows you to benchmark your Valentine’s Day gifts against the average American. After all, what is Valentine’s Day for if not buying expensive gifts to show someone you love them when you could do that for free all year?

But enough of this left-wing anti-consumerist sentiment. The vast majority of people in the US (71%) celebrate Valentine’s Day. And among those 29% that don’t most of them still spend money on a special treat or a meet-up with other single friends and family members.

How do people not celebrating Valentine’s Day mark the occasion?

Source: National Retail Foundation

So, if you are thinking about buying your better half a present, you better think big. The average American spends $185 on a present these days, up 38% from ten years ago, or up 7% when adjusted for inflation.

Average Valentine’s Day spending per person

Source: National Retail Foundation

And what do people buy for the occasion? Certainly not flowers (hence the title of this post). Only 15% of Valentine’s Day spending is on flowers, down from 17% ten years ago. Instead, they spend it on jewellery. Ten years ago, Americans spent some $3.9bn on jewellery on Valentine’s Day, or 35% of the total. In 2024, they planned to spend some $6.4bn or 38% of the total. Time then, to plan a Breakfast at Tiffany’s (sorry Audrey).

Valentine’s Day spending over time

Source: National Retail Foundation