Every year since 1984, PNC Bank has put out a Christmas Price Index (CPI) to show inflation throughout the years. They calculate the price increase of the “Twelve Days of Christmas” gifts. This year has been one of the more dramatic overall increases, but most years (except 3) have experienced inflation.

This year, you could buy a partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three french hens, four calling birds, five golden rings, six geese-a-laying, seven swans-a-swimming, eight maids-a-milking, nine ladies dancing, ten lords-a-leaping, eleven pipers piping, and twelve drummers drumming for $45,523.27 (an increase of 10.5% from 2021). The partridge in a pear tree costs $280.18, with a 25.8% increase. You can spend $600.00 on two turtle doves, a 33.3% increase from last year. The cost of three french hens increased by 25% this year, at $318.75. Four calling birds is $599.96, but has not increased in price this year. Maybe they will hit $600 in 2023. As you could imagine, the cost of 5 golden rings increased by 39.1% and is now $1245.00. To get six geese-a-laying you would have to pay $720.00, a 9.1% increase from last year. Seven swans-a-swimming did not increase, but are still at the high price of $13,124.93. Eight maids-a-milking still cost $58.00. The nine ladies dancing experienced a 10% increase and is now $8,308.12. Ten lords-a-leaping costs $13,980.00 and has risen in price by 24.2%. Pay $3,021.40 for eleven pipers piping, 2.6% more than last year. Lastly, you can get 12 drummers drumming for $3,266.93 and a 2.6% price increase from last year.

The overall price of the gifts has risen by over 100% since when they first measured the costs in 1984. Their website says that these are the most influential factors of the price change:

• The Internet makes it easier to find the gifts from the song online, but these goods and services tend to be expensive, mainly due to added shipping and handling costs.
• The price of services overall has increased, while the price of goods has slowed.
• Fuel costs have a major effect on the cost of shipping. And, as we know, fuel prices have been especially volatile over the last few years.
• The year 2020 was especially challenging due to the pandemic and with the suspension of most live performances, we eliminated them from the index as they were not an option for the True Love, but they returned in 2021.

An overall trend is the shipping and service fees with new services, such as Amazon being a prominent factor in today’s society. You can explore the PNC Bank’s CPI more at https://www.pncchristmaspriceindex.com.