Valentine's Day 2023: expensive for the heart and wallet

This year, Valentine's Day will be extremely expensive for Poles. Valentine's Day eToro Index, covering the most popular expenses made on the occasion of that day, has increased by as much as 30% over the last two years. This is above the cumulative inflation rate, which was 27% over the same period.

Valentine's Day 2023 and inflation

EToro Valentine's Index covers three basic categories of Valentine's spending, in each analyzing the global prices of two commodities. When buying jewelry, which is a popular gift for Valentine's Day, we analyze the prices of gold and silver. In the case of sweets popular on the occasion of this holiday, we checked the prices of cocoa and sugar. The last category is dinners out, in this case represented by chicken and beef prices.

If you only look at the prices, the best Valentine's Day gift should be jewelry, because it has increased in price by only 15% in two years. Sweets went up by 38%, and the cost of dinner out by as much as 41%. And yet restaurateurs are not only struggling with rising meat prices, but also electricity and gas prices have increased significantly. The increase in meat prices is similar to the increase in the prices of all raw materials on the market. Bloomberg Commodity Index (BCI), i.e. a broad commodity index, gained 45 percent during this time.

Source: eToro

Paweł Majtkowski, Analyst at eToro, commented:

“We say love is blind, but now many romantics can open their eyes wide upon receiving their Valentine's Day bill. Within two years, the increase in prices amounted to almost 1/3. Valentine's Day is still not as popular in Poland as other holidays. Thus, a possible strategy in this situation is to reduce the related expenses. Many people will choose a romantic gesture (e.g. handmade cards) instead of an expensive dinner. A safe option is also sweets, which, although they have become more expensive by as much as 38%, can still be a cheaper alternative.

In the U.S., the average consumer plans to spend $192 on Valentine's Day, which is 10 percent more than the previous year. higher than a year ago and 17 percent. than two years ago. Poles will spend lower amounts, the vast majority of us will spend less than PLN 250 on this occasion.”