As we approach Valentine’s Day 2016, we start to notice our regular grocery stores are becoming increasingly pink and red. Pink and red cupcakes at the bakery, pink and red wrapping paper near the cash register, and don’t even get me started on the greeting card aisle!

Love is in the air this time of year, and it’s not just love for significant others. Florists, jewelers, and candy companies LOVE how much people typically spend on Valentine’s Day, which has increased by about 40% since only 2009! Every year Valentine’s Day spending per capita goes up, and I wonder if it’s because people are more demanding, more generous, or we simply fall prey to the constant temptations of marketing.

We all know that Valentine’s Day usually involves the exchange of candy, flowers, jewelry, or maybe all of the above. But how much do people buy jewelry for this holiday?

Consumer statistics indicated that for 2015, a little more than 20% of the people who planned to celebrate Valentine’s Day bought jewelry as a gift for their significant other. More than 50% bought candy, yet spending on jewelry was 3 times higher in terms of dollar amount! No surprise here, but men spent on average $190.53 on Valentine’s Day gifts, movies, dinners, and so on whereas women spent about $96.58.

The numbers also indicate that Millennials are most interested in spending money for this romantic day, which supports the study that came out last year about the increase in diamond buying by Millennials.

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