NRF: Father's Day spending to hit $22.4 billion

Father’s Day spending is expected to be nearly on-par with last year’s record-high, according to a new estimate.

The National Retail Federation (NRF), using data from Prosper Insights & Analytics, says that spending for the holiday, which falls on June 16 this year, could hit $22.4 billion. This is the second highest figure in the survey’s history and comparable to last year’s record of $22.9 billion. 

Similar to 2023, three-quarters of consumers plan to celebrate Father’s Day this year. On average, those shopping for Father’s Day plan to spend $189.81 on gifts and celebrations, just shy of last year’s record of $196.23. Consumers ages 25-34 are the biggest spenders this year, at an average of $275.67.

Online continues to be the most popular shopping destination for Father’s Day gifts at 42%, roughly the same as last year (43%). Other popular choices include department stores (38%), discount stores (24%), specialty stores (22%) and local/small businesses (19%). 

Half of consumers surveyed plan to purchase a gift for a father or stepfather, followed by those purchasing gifts for a husband (26%), son (10%), brother (8%), friend (8%) or grandfather (6%).   

NRF’s Father’s Day prediction falls short of what it estimated for Mother’s Day spending, when it projected consumers to spend $33.5 billion on the holiday.

Greeting cards remain the most popular Father’s Day gifts, with 58% of shoppers planning to purchase one, followed by clothing (54%), a special outing (52%), gift cards (48%) and personal care items (31%). 

More than a quarter (27%) of Father’s Day shoppers plan to give a gift of experience, such as tickets to a sporting event or concert, down slightly from 29% last year. More than four-in-10 (42%) consumers are interested in gifting a product subscription box, up from 34% in 2019 when NRF first started asking this question.

The survey of 8,580 consumers was conducted May 1-8 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.