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Father’s Day spending expected to hit a whopping $22.4B — a number that’s still no match for Mother’s Day

That’s a lot of mugs that say “#1 Dad.”

Father’s Day spending was expected to hit $22.4 billion dollars this year, the second highest amount recorded following last year’s record of $22.9 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.

Half of consumers were shopping for fathers and stepfathers while the rest were dividing their gifts among husbands, sons, brothers, friends and grandfathers, the retail trade group’s survey found.

Father’s Day spending is expected to reach $22.4 billion this year, according to an annual survey from the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. Prostock-studio – stock.adobe.com

The average spend on presents and celebrations was expected to reach $189.81, the survey of 8,580 consumers conducted in May found.

Greeting cards remain the most popular offering to dad — 58% of shoppers are planning to pick one up — followed by clothing, an outing, gift cards and personal care items, respectively.   

Over a quarter of Father’s Day shoppers plan to give “a gift of experience,” such as tickets to a sporting event or concert, down slightly from last year.  

“While spending on these gift categories is mostly in line with last year’s record numbers, they are still significantly above pre-pandemic spending,” noted Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategy at Prosper Insights & Analytics, which partnered in the research.

On average, those shopping for Father’s Day planned to spend $189.81, just shy of last year’s record of $196.23, according to the NRF. NRF
Consumers ages 25-34 were expected to be the biggest spenders this year, at an average of $275.67, the survey found. NRF

But the Father’s Day numbers don’t compare to what consumers spend on moms.

This Mother’s Day, shoppers doled out a whopping $33.5 billion to spoil the women in their lives.