Love, Lust and Chocolate: Valentine’s Day by the Numbers
Life + Money

Love, Lust and Chocolate: Valentine’s Day by the Numbers

REUTERS/Andrew Innerarity

Showing your love on Valentine’s Day is going to take a little more cash this year, according to an index that tracks costs associated with the holiday.

Of the nine items included in the index compiled by Houston Asset Management, only one recorded a year-over-year price decline. Prices for five went up, while three remained the same.

The cost of a dozen long-stemmed roses delivered to your sweetheart increased by more than 8 percent to $140.73, nearly $12 per stem. The bill for a candlelight dinner at a first-class restaurant jumped 30 percent to $363, while the cost of a movie date is 8 percent higher than last year.

Related: 30 Flirtatious Valentine’s Day Gifts Under $50

A men's designer silk tie is 6 percent more at $175, and at $5.25 a greeting card costs almost 17 percent more than in 2016. The price tags for a heart-shaped box of Godiva chocolates, a silk nightie and a one-ounce bottle of Chanel No. 5 perfume remained unchanged at $100, $68 and $325, respectively.

A bottle of Simi Winery chardonnay was the only item in the index with a lower price tag this year, down a third from last year.

Here are some more fun facts about the holiday of love:

  • $136.57: The average amount Americans will spend on flowers, candy, apparel, jewelry and other gifts on Valentine’s Day, down from a record high of $146.84 last year.

  • 54: The percentage of Americans planning to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

  • $18.2 billion: Total amount that will be spent on Valentine’s Day gifts.

  • $1.7 billion: Amount that will be spent on candy.

  • $2 billion: Amount that will be spent on flowers.

  • $4.3 billion: Amount that will be spent on jewelry.

Related: The Thrill Is Gone? Valentine’s Day Spending Looking Soft This Year

  • $1 billion: Amount that will be spent on greeting cards.

  • $3.8 billion: Total amount that people will spend on an evening out.

  • $4.44: The average amount Americans will spend on gifts for their pets. 

  • 85: Percentage of men and women who say sex is an important part of Valentine’s Day.

  • 60: The percentage who would be disappointed if they don’t have sex on Valentine’s Day.

  • $210: Average amount that men spend on Valentine’s gifts for their significant others, 65 percent more than the $127 the average woman spends.

  • 53: Percentage of women who would end a relationship if their significant other forgot Valentine’s Day. 

  • 1868: The year of the first Valentine’s Day box of chocolates, introduced by Richard Cadbury.

  • 8 billion: Number of Sweethearts candies made each year. Most are sold between Jan. 1 and Feb. 14. 

  • 24: Percentage of Americans who buy flowers or plants as gifts for Valentine’s Day.

  • 63: Percentage of people who purchase red roses, the most popular type of flower. The next most popular rose colors are pink and white.

Related: 14 Luxurious Ways to Spoil Your Valentine

  • 250 million: The number of roses grown each year for Valentine’s Day. 

  • 15: Percentage of American women who will send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day.

  • 174,000: The number of gallons of sparkling wine that will be sold in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day. 
  • 25: Percentage of people who dine at a restaurant on Valentine’s Day, second only to Mother’s Day.

  • 1537: The year that England’s Henry VIII officially declared Feb. 14 as St. Valentine’s Day.

  • 1849: The year that Esther Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts, published the first Valentine’s Day card. 

  • 7: The number of other countries besides the U.S. that celebrate Valentine’s Day: Canada, Mexico, the U.K., France, Australia, Denmark and Italy.

  • 1913: The year that Hallmark first offered Valentine’s Day cards. It started mass-producing them in 1916. 

  • 190 million: The number of Valentine’s Day greeting cards exchanged each year.

  • 1,000: The number of letters that the Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare’s lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives each Valentine’s Day. 

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