Ahead of St Valentine’s Day, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (12 February 2026) looked at the changing costs of some of the items included in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) that are associated with the occasion. These prices form part of the overall CPI which measures inflation in Ireland.
As we saw from our analysis in 2025 the costs of romantic gestures typically associated with St Valentine’s Day were on the rise, and those trends are continuing for 2026. This analysis is based on a comparison of prices collected in December 2020, December 2024, and December 2025 (See Editor’s Note below).
If you plan to show your affection by gifting chocolates this year, the price of a box of chocolates has risen by 10.1% in the year from December 2024 to December 2025, which means that a box that cost you €10 is now priced at €11.
Another popular gift on St Valentine’s Day are flowers, and they also saw an increase in the year, going up by 2.5%, while a bottle of wine saw a slight change, rising by 0.2%.
As expected, dining costs also went up. Taking someone special out for a meal in a restaurant went up by 2.8% in the 12 months to December 2025, while staying in for a cosy night with a takeaway means you might have to fork out an extra 3.6% for your food.
For those marking the occasion with a trip to the cinema or theatre, both outings would cost almost 4% more this time around.
A box of chocolates saw the largest growth from December 2020 to December 2025 at 44%, with other gifts such as flowers up 14% and a bottle of wine rising by 10.3%.
Takeaways cost you 30% more than they did in 2020, with a meal in a restaurant increasing by 24.3% over the five years to 2025.
On the entertainment front, attending a theatre performance went up by 19% and a cinema outing rose by 10% from December 2020 to December 2025.
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Editor's Note
December 2025 is the most up to date CPI data available, as January 2026 information will be published on 19 February 2026.
The change in prices for each product is calculated from their price indices. The price index tracks a wide range of prices for a variety of items within a product group every month. All of these items are part of the CPI, which measures inflation over time.
These statistics can be attributed to statistician Anthony Dawson in the CSO’s Consumer Prices division.