They say money can't buy you love, but that hasn't stopped Americans from opening their hearts and wallets and shelling out billions each year on Valentine's Day chocolates, flowers and other gifts.
Lovers are expected to spend less this Feb. 14 for the first time in nearly a decade, according to the annual survey released Wednesday by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
On average, Americans are expected to spend $136.57 this year — down $10.27 from last year’s record-high. Total spending is expected to reach $18.2 billion — down $1.5 billion from 2016, according to the NRF.
People aren't just spending less. Fewer people are celebrating Valentine's Day altogether.
The number of people surveyed who plan to celebrate the holiday has dropped by nearly 10 percentage points from 63 percent in 2007 to 54 percent this year.
According to the U.S. Census, the number of single people has been steadily on the rise since the '60s. But the Census is kind of old-fashioned and just looks at people not currently married. That was 79 percent of people 15 and older in Denver in 2015.
Business & data reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached via email at [email protected] or twitter.com/adriandgarcia.
