The Valentine's Index is only up 1% year on year

Inflation has recently been pushing up most prices in the market. However, Valentine's Day this year may not be as expensive as we think. Prepared by eToro Valentine's Index, which is a reflection of the main Valentine's Day spending, has increased by only 1% over the last year.

About the author

Pawel Majtkowski - analyst eToro on the Polish market, which shares its weekly commentary on the latest stock market information. Paweł is a recognized expert on financial markets with extensive experience as an analyst in financial institutions. He is also one of the most cited experts in the field of economy and financial markets in Poland. He graduated from law studies at the University of Warsaw. He is also the author of many publications in the field of investing, personal finance and economy.

Inflation of Valentine's Day spending is not moving

The main Valentine's Day expenses, both in Poland and in the world, are sweets, jewelry and eating out. To compare how the prices of the underlying raw materials have changed, we have created EToro Valentine's Index. It consists of world prices for cocoa, sugar, silver, gold, beef and poultry. While Bloomberg Commodity Index (DJP), which contains 23 commodities and raw materials, has increased by 30% over the last year, our Valentine's Index has only increased by 1%. As a result, the prices of Valentine's Day spending may be lower than the general increase in prices in the economy. It is worth mentioning that the prices of raw materials and goods have already increased by 10% since the beginning of the year, and strong demand and limited supply as well as fears related to inflation are pushing their prices up.

This does not apply to everyone

Valentine's Day expenses are zero for those who don't care about it. In Poland, it is declared by about 30 percent. people, in the US 48 percent. Those who are going to celebrate will spend more on this day than in previous years. In the US, according to forecasts, it will be USD 24 billion, or around USD 175
per person. The most important expenses are sweets (56 percent), flowers (37%) and jewelry (24 percent). And also those related to the economy that is opening up more and more after the coronavirus - evening outings, for example, to restaurants (24%), as well as concerts or sports events (41%). In Poland, Valentine's Day expenses have a similar structure, although they are correspondingly lower. The offer of concerts and events is also poorer on the Vistula River due to a different phase of the epidemic.

It is worth noting that the customs of Valentine's Day adapt to the times in which we operate. The eToro study conducted in the USA shows that 8 percent Americans would like to receive cryptocurrencies or NFT tokens. 33 percent it would be more likely to go on a date with someone who mentions cryptocurrencies in their dating profile (for 20%, it would be daunting). And 55 percent. of respondents say they visit their banking and trading apps more often than the dating apps.