Ob Flowers, chocolates or tickets for cinema and concerts: This time, consumers in Germany will have to dig deeper into their pockets for the gifts that are particularly popular on Valentine's Day on February 14th. Cut flowers, for example, rose in price by 9.1 percent on average in 2023, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Tuesday. For comparison: Overall consumer prices only increased by 5.9 percent during this period.
In addition, cut flowers are often more expensive in February than in the other months of the year. Last February they cost 3.0 percent more than the average for the whole of 2023. “Flowers are traditionally often given away on Valentine’s Day,” the statisticians summarized their findings. “However, consumers usually have to dig deeper into their pockets on February 14th than usual.”
Tickets for cinemas, theaters and concerts have increased less
This time you will also have to shell out more money for other classic Valentine's Day gifts. Anyone who prefers to give away chocolates will probably notice the difference at the checkout: the prices for these rose by a strong 8.3 percent last year. On the other hand, the prices for a visit to the cinema, theater or concert rose below average: they rose by 4.3 percent and therefore not as much as inflation overall.
The feast day of Saint Valentine is celebrated in Christian tradition as the day of youth and lovers. Next year, the era of steep price increases for corresponding gifts could come to an end. The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) expects the inflation rate to fall to 2.3 percent as early as 2024, before it even falls to 1.8 percent in 2025. The European Central Bank (ECB) sees an inflation rate of two percent as ideal for economic development in the monetary union.
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