Love Is An Expensive Business - Valentine's Day By The Numbers

By  Niall McCarthy

Love is an expensive business and nothing proves it better than Valentine’s Day. Few countries take February 14th as seriously as the United States and this year the average American will spend $142.31 on gifts. Men are going to spend nearly twice as much as women with overall sales amounting to a whopping $19 billion, an increase on 2014.

$4.8 billion will be splurged on jewelry, $3.6 billion will be spent on date nights while just over $2.1 billion will be set aside for flowers. Interestingly, Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples. Other family members, friends and children’s classmates/teachers are all set for gifts on February 14th. Somewhat bizzarely, 21.2 percent of Americans will spend a grand total of $703 million on Valentine’s Day gifts for their pets!

Culled from: http://www.forbes.com