The average person celebrating Valentine's Day spends $189

Check out Valentine's Day traditions from around the world

Valentine's Day is a holiday all about romance, but the way that's expressed differs depending on where the celebration takes place. This list breaks down some interesting takes on the holiday from across the globe, including mass weddings in the Philippines and Japan's gender-specific chocolate exchanges.

The average US adult spends roughly $195 on Easter

That's up from $189 in 2025 and the previous record of $192 in 2023. The vast majority of consumers intend to use it on candy (92%), followed by food (89%) and other gifts.

Reforms reducing postage rates helped popularize Valentine's Day cards

In 1845, Congress voted to slash postage rates, paving the way for larger swaths of the American public to send and receive mail. This convenience was capitalized on by paper and stationery sellers who sought to profit from the holiday. Esther Howland's New England Valentine Company was the first major commercial producer of valentines in the US, but Hallmark followed a few decades later.

Valentine's Day is considered the end of 'proposal season'

Wedding website The Knot's internal study found that Christmas is the most popular day to propose. It also kicks off "proposal season," a monthslong season from Christmas to Valentine's Day that's a popular time for lovers to pop the question.

Valentine's Day's namesake is unclear

Valentine, which means "powerful" or "worthy," was a popular name in the Roman Empire. Considering that, it's no surprise that there's more than one St. Valentine. In fact, three different men named Valentine were martyred on February 14, and none of them, despite some unproven legends, were ever associated with love or romance.

Colombia exported 35,000 tons of greens for Valentine's Day bouquets in 2025

The country is home to the green foliage that pads out Valentine's Day bouquets. Over 70% of the country's Valentine's Day exports (an operation that includes 500 flights) went to the United States. Environmental activists warn that the large-scale cultivation is harming a fragile ecosystem.

Singles' Day was created as a response to Valentine's Day

Inspired by people feeling left out by Valentine's Day, the Chinese holiday celebrates the unattached. It takes place Nov. 11, sometimes referred to as "Double 11," and has become a major shopping day, with over $202B spent on that day in 2024.

Almost all Mexican citizens celebrate Day of the Dead

The average Mexican family spends more than $60 USD on celebration elements like flowers, candles, food, and decorations. The holiday also draws more than 2 million foreign tourists to join in the festivities.

The best Valentine's Day-themed horror movies

It may seem like an odd combination—a holiday centered on love and a film genre dedicated to fright—but the hyperspecific subgenre thrives on the apparent juxtaposition, along with some campy send-ups of an overly commercialized holiday.

The wedding industry is a roughly $200B global market

That market is shaped by both tradition and commercial influence. In the US, couples spend an average of $35K on a wedding, while Indian weddings range from $5K to more than $100K. Despite rising costs, weddings remain a deeply emotional tradition, celebrating love and human connection.

The average American household spends over $3K annually on dining out

The exact number is $3,228, or $269 per month. WalletHub found the number by crunching the data reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics between 2014 and 2023.

US consumers spent $670M on snack food during Super Bowl week in 2024

According to Circana and NielsenIQ, Super Bowl week drove $670M in snack spending and 107 million pounds of food, with most fans watching at home, spending about $44 on food and drinks each.

'Loveflation' is making dating more expensive and less frequent

A survey found that more than half of Americans are going on fewer dates due to rising costs, with 27% stopping altogether. Gen Z and millennials are the hardest hit, with 62% reporting changes in their dating habits due to inflation.

Mother's Day is one of the restaurant industry's biggest days

Brunch is a popular activity for the holiday, leading to large parties, long lines, and big checks—in 2023, the National Retail Federation anticipated $5.6B spent on a meal or outing. That's made Mother's Day a notorious day for service workers, with CNN calling it "The most hated day in the restaurant industry."

Tiffany & Co. released a $200K Advent calendar in 2021

Tiffany & Co. has released ultra-luxury Advent calendars containing more than $100K worth of jewelry, including gold bracelets, diamond earrings, and platinum pendants. The 2021 edition cost $200K and featured daily drawers of high-end pieces.

The economics of romance novels

Romance is the publishing industry's most popular genre, with over 44 million units sold in 2025 alone. This episode of "The Economics of Everyday Things" podcast explores how the once-maligned form became the most reliable kind of book in the industry.

The best items to buy at dollar stores, according to a financial expert

Experts advise purchasing items like greeting cards, pregnancy tests, candy, gift and party supplies, and other items from the dollar store to maximize savings.

Take a peek inside those $225,000 Oscar gift bags.

Even the losers will win big at the Academy Awards, thanks to all of the free swag. Here’s what they’ll take home this year.

Roughly 39% of Visa's revenue comes from data processing fees.

Visa gets roughly 0.13% to 0.14% of each transaction. About 32% of its revenue stems from the money banks pay Visa to use its services, and roughly 26% of its revenue comes from international transaction fees.

Many dot-com companies spent some investor money on expensive parties

Parties hosted by dot-com companies were known to be extravagant and expensive. Technology companies in the Bay Area hosted between 15 and 20 parties a week on average, which cost between $30K and $50K on average.

Car crashes are 34% more frequent on Black Friday compared to other November days

Black Friday anecdotes abound. Once, a mall dropped 500 gift certificates from the ceiling into a crowd of 2,000 Black Friday shoppers, who injured each other fighting for them. Another time, publishers of the game Cards Against Humanity convinced 11,000 shoppers to pay $5 for nothing.

Mariah Carey earns millions each year from 'All I Want for Christmas Is You'

Mariah Carey’s 1994 hit has become a holiday cash machine, generating an estimated $2.5M–$3M in annual royalties. The song consistently tops the streaming charts each holiday season.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

97% of Americans polled say they like or love ice cream

The poll—conducted by the International Dairy Foods Association and Morning Consult—asked over 2,200 American adults. The top flavor for Americans? Vanilla.

Eating fish during Lunar New Year is believed to bring prosperity

Many of the traditional Lunar New Year dishes are deeply symbolic—such as fried spring rolls resembling bars of gold. How the dishes are prepared, served, and eaten is crucial for carrying out their powers.

See the average income in every US state

DC residents make an average of $108K a year, but residents of nearby state West Virginia earn the country's lowest average annual income of just $55K.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

Poison ivy's rash-causing compound is found in the plant's roots, stem, and leaves—so coming into contact with any part of the plant can lead to rashes for the 85% of people who are allergic to it.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in terms of casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.