Sad Valentine's Day

What have the men in Lower Austria been up to this year?

Fewer women than last year want to give their partners presents on Valentine's Day this year. The giving mood of men, on the other hand, is unbroken - even if they are cooking a little on the back burner.

Men in particular should mark next Friday in their diaries - Valentine's Day! On February 14, people like to surprise people who are important to them with a gift. According to a survey by KMU Forschung Austria, 81 percent of Lower Austrians plan to sweeten this day with a small gift for their partner. This means that the giving mood among men is just as high as last year.

Fewer gifts
The situation is different for women. As if the men collectively had done something wrong in the past twelve months, the women's gift-giving mood has dropped by a whopping twelve percentage points. Only 64 percent have Valentine's Day on their radar as the day they want to get a gift for their partner.

Lower Austria is stingy
In any case, the willingness to spend has slowed down this year - albeit for both sexes. Mr. and Mrs. Lower Austrians have set aside 40 euros for gifts. A year ago, this figure was 5 euros higher. And in an Austrian comparison, it seems downright stingy - because this year's Valentine's Day gifts cost an average of 70 euros nationwide.

Sweets are in second place in Lower Austria.(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

Flowers - and roses in particular - are once again at the top of the list of Valentine's Day gifts this year.(Bild: Malena Brenek)

Roses and sweets
However, gift preferences between Enns and Leitha differ only marginally from the Austria-wide trend. Flowers rank first with 48 percent. Roses are still the big hit, followed by tulips and orchids. Chocolates and other sweets are also popular on Valentine's Day, with 38% of people choosing them. And as many as 15 percent give gift vouchers to spend time together at a restaurant, cinema or theater. In total, retailers in Lower Austria are expecting sales of around 40 million euros.