Valentine’s Day Sales Looking Strong, NRF Finds

Retailers and restaurants will love this: Consumer spending on Valentine’s Day is expected to reach a record $29.1 billion, according to a 2026 annual survey from the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. That amount surpasses the previous record of $27.5 billion in 2025. Shoppers are budgeting a record $199.78 on average for gifts, an increase from $188.81 last year and surpassing the previous record of $196.31 set in 2020.

“Valentine’s Day is a cherished holiday that resonates with many Americans, as seen with expected record-breaking spending this year,” said NRF VP of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen. “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.”

Over half (55%) of consumers plan to celebrate on Feb. 14, which falls on a Saturday this year. Most of those respondents (83%) plan to purchase a gift for a significant other, with spending on gifts for romantic partners expected to reach $14.5 billion. An additional 58% plan to purchase gifts for other family members such as kids, parents or siblings, for a total of $4.5 billion in expected spending.

In addition, one-third (33%) of consumers plan to purchase gifts for friends ($2.4 billion). Another 27% will purchase gifts for their children’s classmates and teachers ($2.2 billion), while 21% will buy gifts for co-workers ($1.7 billion).

Beyond that, a record 35% of consumers plan to purchase Valentine’s Day gifts for their pets this year, totaling $2.1 billion – up from $1.7 billion in 2025.

For humans, candy remains the most popular Valentine’s Day gift, with 56% of consumers planning to purchase such sweets. Other top gifts include flowers (41%), greeting cards (41%), an evening out (39%) and jewelry (25%). However, shoppers are expected to spend the most — a total of $7 billion — on jewelry, followed by $6.3 billion on an evening out, $3.5 billion on clothing and $3.1 billion on flowers.

In line with recent years, the top shopping destination remains online (38%), followed by department stores (35%), discount stores (30%) and specialty stores (21%).

The survey asked just under 7800 adult consumers about their Valentine’s Day shopping plans. It was conducted Jan. 2-8 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.

Click here for more from the survey.