Gift-giving reference
U.S. Gift-Giving Statistics
Current, source-linked figures for the occasions that bring gift-givers together, from Valentine's Day to the winter holiday season.
Last updated September 15, 2026. Figures are presented as reported by their original sources.
A quick read
Gifting happens all year, not only in December.
These figures show the scale of major U.S. gifting occasions and the budgets shoppers plan around them. Use them as a starting point for a story, a school project, a retail brief, or a thoughtful conversation about how people celebrate.
Key statistics
At a glance
Every figure below links to the dated report it came from, so the original context is never far away.
$29.1B
Expected Valentine's Day spending in 2026
The annual total is a record, according to the NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics survey.
Source: NRF, January 27, 202655%
Of consumers plan to celebrate Valentine's Day in 2026
Among people celebrating, 83% expect to buy a gift for a significant other.
Source: NRF, January 27, 2026$199.78
Average planned Valentine's Day gift spend per shopper
That is the highest per-person gift budget reported in the NRF survey at the time of publication.
Source: NRF, January 27, 2026$38B
Expected Mother's Day spending in 2026
NRF reported a record total projected for Mother's Day gifts and celebrations.
Source: NRF, April 21, 2026$284.25
Average planned Mother's Day gift spend per shopper
The 2026 per-person gift budget was also projected to set a new record.
Source: NRF, April 21, 2026$27.9B
Expected Father's Day spending in 2026
NRF projected another record for gifts and celebrations around Father's Day.
Source: NRF, June 10, 2026$226.58
Average planned Father's Day spend per shopper
The figure comes from NRF's 2026 Father's Day consumer survey.
Source: NRF, June 10, 2026$24.9B
Expected Easter spending in 2026
NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics projected a record total for the season.
Source: NRF, March 24, 20264.1%
Growth in 2025 winter holiday sales
Sales from November 1 through December 31 grew compared with the same period in 2024.
Source: NRF, January 12, 2026Reading the numbers
Seasonal totals and per-shopper budgets measure different things.
Seasonal totals reflect expected spending across a whole occasion, including gifts and, depending on the survey, celebrations such as meals, flowers, candy, cards, and experiences. Per-shopper figures describe the planned spending of individual survey respondents.
That is why the numbers are most useful when read with their labels and source notes. They are a snapshot of consumer intentions at the time each survey was released, not a promise about any one shopper's budget.
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Need to cite this page?
Suggested citation: Trending gifts. “U.S. Gift-Giving Statistics.” Updated September 15, 2026. Trending gifts, U.S. Gift-Giving Statistics.
For a specific number, please also link to the original National Retail Federation report shown with that statistic.
Methodology and sources
How this reference is kept useful.
This page includes only published figures from named, linked sources. It currently uses National Retail Federation research and reporting based on its consumer surveys with Prosper Insights & Analytics, plus its reported holiday sales results. It is refreshed when material new seasonal research is available.
- National Retail Federation, Valentine's Day Spending Expected to Reach New RecordsPublished January 27, 2026
- National Retail Federation, Mother's Day Spending Expected to Hit Record $38 BillionPublished April 21, 2026
- National Retail Federation, Father's Day Spending to Hit Record $27.9 BillionPublished June 10, 2026
- National Retail Federation, Easter Spending Expected to Reach a Record $24.9 BillionPublished March 24, 2026
- National Retail Federation, December data shows strong holiday-season spendingPublished January 12, 2026
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