Valentine's Day special: a collection of romantic stats from Mintel

What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day with a bunch of flowers, a box of chocolate or a romantic dinner with your loved one? However, Valentine's Day is not just a celebration of love, but also as with other seasonal festivities, an important sales booster. And as we take research to hearth here at Mintel, we have compiled a special Valentine's Day release, packed with Valentine's themed stats.

•Say it with flowers: 49% of Americans bought flowers for Valentine's Day.

•Who is the most romantic? 57% of Americans aged 35/44 bought flowers for Valentine's Day versus 44% of 18-24s.

•52% of American consumers planned to purchase greeting cards for Valentine's Day.

•Something special planned? 36% of American consumers planned an evening out for Valentine's Day.

•A girl's best friend? 34% of American men, who bought jewellery in the past two years, bought a (not wedding related) diamond ring.

•One in five (20%) Americans who have bought jewellery for someone in the past 2 years did it for Valentine's Day.

•Spray it with love - 31% of Americans prefer musk scent fragrances and 29% citrus.

•In 2012 Americans spent US$3.5 billion on fragrances: US$2.2bn on women's fragrances and US$1.3 billion on men's fragrances.

•Sweets for your sweet? In the US, half (50%) of chocolate eaters buy chocolate for holidays or as a gift item.

•Milk or dark? Milk chocolate is preferred by 57% of chocolate consumers in the US, with dark (33%) and white (10%) chocolate coming in a distant second and third.

•The chocolate divide - 67% of consumers aged 25-34 prefer milk chocolate compared to 50% of those aged 55-64.

•In 2012 Americans splashed US$4.5 billion on seasonal chocolate.

•Bubbling over with love? In the US, gifting is a primary motivation for buyers to purchase soap and bath products, with four in ten (38%) people buying specialty bath products as a gift, and a similar proportion (37%) also receiving gifts of bubble bath/bath salts.

•Over half (52%) of American women have received soap/bath specialty products (bubble bath, bath salts, etc.) as a gift from someone in 2012.

•The smell of romance is in the air - nearly a quarter (31%) of consumers in the US say they use their more expensive fragrance products for special occasions only.