Gifts to friends, co-workers, and pets help drive Valentine’s Day spending: NRF survey

Consumers are on track to spend $29.1 billion on Valentine’s Day this year, according to survey data from the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. That’s a record-breaking sum for the love-themed celebration—up from $27.5 billion in 2025—which despite falling in the middle of February pulls its weight in terms of spending. Halloween, for instance, raked in less than half that amount.

• On a per budget basis, consumers are planning to drop a record $199.78 on average for gifts, inching past the previous record of $196.31 in 2020 just before the Covid-19 pandemic.

In what is becoming a theme of holiday spending, however, certain demographics are pulling most of the weight.

“Much of that growth is driven by middle- and high-income shoppers who are expanding their gift lists to include friends, co-workers, and even pets in addition to loved ones,” NRF’s VP of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen said in a statement.

Indeed, these expanded gift-giving circles are helping bolster overall spending, with $2.4 billion going to friends, $2.2 billion going to the teachers and classmates of children, and $1.7 billion going to co-workers. In addition, pets are getting more love this year, with spending expected to jump from $1.7 billion in 2025 to $2.1 billion this year.

And yet, romantic partners still make up roughly half of spending at $14.5 billion.

The strong anticipated demand on the part of consumers has led some brands to bring in more products than in previous years. Victoria’s Secret, for example, underestimated interest in the holiday last year and quickly sold out its inventory, per a Wall Street Journal article. To avoid repeating that mistake, it’s now stockpiling more items, increasing marketing, and cutting back on promotions.