Valentine’s Day: a business that knows no crisis

Again this year, Italians will spare no expenses for Valentine’s Day: according to Codacons estimates, €350 million will be spent. The expense is increasing and, according to a research carried out by the Milan Chamber of Commerce, also the number of dedicated businesses and workers in the sector will rise.

In particular, businesses involved in the most commercial holiday of the year have increased by 1.9% (155,641 businesses) in Italy. At a regional level, the highest increase, i.e. 2.7% (18,539 businesses) was registered in Lazio, followed by a 2.6% increase in Lombardy (20,718 businesses) and Sicily (10,871 businesses).

As concerns dedicated workers, Lombardy ranks first, with 103,145 people, followed by Lazio with 60,123, out of total 614,467 people.

The research shows data for each Italian city and region, comparing the most recent data relevant to businesses (quarter 3 2017), with those of previous year (quarter 3 2016); as concerns dedicated workers, data are shown for each city and region only for quarter 3 2017.

Analysing single data can help understanding the categories into which involved businesses are broken down: restaurant business - involving the greatest part of entities - retail sale of watches, jewellery and silverware, retail sale of flowers and plants, and, of course, retail sale of cakes, sweets and confectionery, as well as retail sale of giftware.

The analysis of such information leads to a very positive conclusion: Valentine’s Day will not only boost consumptions in the days preceding the holiday, but also take to a structural growth of the whole sector and all over Italy, except for Friuli Venezia Giulia (- 0.2%) and Molise (- 0.3%). This can be interpreted as a confirmation of the growth of the Italian entrepreneurial system, thanks to different factors and dynamics, which are clearly not only due to Valentine’s Day effect, but, anyway, thanks to Saint Valentine’s contribution.