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Valentine’s Day… by the numbers

2012

Image: A rose and heart-shaped box of chocolates.

February 14th is Valentine's Day!

Named for Saint Valentine, this is a day when couples express their love for each other by sending cards, exchanging gifts of chocolate, roses or personal items, and even sharing romantic dinners by candlelight.

Here are some facts on assorted topics related to Valentine’s Day.

(Data presented here are the most recent. Last updated: January 30, 2012.)

Will you be my Valentine?

52% — The proportion of Canadians who are single (including never-married, widowed or divorced).

48% — The proportion of Canadians who are married (including legally married, legally married and separated, and common-law unions).

17,059,166 — The total number of single (including never-married, widowed or divorced) males and females of all ages in Canada as of July 1, 2007.

15,916,860 — The total number of married (including legally married, legally married and separated, and common-law unions) males and females of all ages in Canada as of July 1, 2007.

32,976,026 — The total population of Canada as of July 1, 2007.

Source: Summary tables, Population by marital status and sex.

See also: Statistics by subject, Population and demography.

Will you marry me?

7,437,430 — The number of opposite-sex couples in Canada in 2006. Of these, about 6.1 million (82.0%) were married couples and 1.3 million (18.0%) were common-law couples.

45,345 — The number of same-sex couples in 2006. Of these, about 7,500 (16.5%) were married couples and 37,900 (83.5%) were common-law couples.

54% — The proportion of same-sex married spouses who were men.

46% — The proportion of same-sex married spouses who were women.

Sources: Table 2: Distribution of couples by conjugal status, Canada, 2001 and 2006; Family Portrait: Continuity and Change in Canadian Families and Households in 2006: Findings

Watch for fresh data on couples in Canada, coming September 2012. See 2011 Census topics and release dates for more information.

A special meal

Food purchased from restaurants also includes refreshment stands, snack bars, vending machines, mobile canteens, caterers and coffee wagons.

$1,577 — The average amount that Canadian households spent on food purchased from restaurants in 2009.

93.9% — The proportion of households in Canada reporting expenditures on food purchased from restaurants in 2009.

12,592,290 — The number of households in Canada reporting expenditures on food purchased from restaurants in 2009.

Source: CANSIM, table 203-0002 (Survey of Household Spending).

A special gift

$2.3 billion — The total value of cosmetics and fragrances sold at retailers in Canada in 2010.

$3.0 billion — The total value of jewellery and watches sold at retailers in Canada in 2010.

$1.6 billion — The total value of women's lingerie, sleepwear and intimates sold at retailers in Canada in 2010.

$591.5 million — The total value of men's underwear, sleepwear and hosiery sold at retailers in Canada in 2010.

$1.3 billion — The total value of giftware, novelties and souvenirs sold at retailers in Canada in 2010.

$3.0 billion — The total value of stationery, office supplies, cards, gift wrap and party supplies sold at retailers in Canada in 2010.

Source: CANSIM, table 080-0022 (Quarterly Retail Commodity Survey).

A glass of red wine

62% — The proportion of the volume of sales of red wine (including rosé wines) relative to white wines sold in Canada in 2009/2010.

169% — The growth in the value of sales of red wine in Canada between 2000 and 2010. Dollar sales of white wine rose at a much slower pace (+56%) during the same period.

75% — The proportion of red wines sold in Canada in 2009/2010 that were imported.

61% — The proportion of white wines sold in Canada in 2009/2010 that were imported.

$5.8 billion — The value of all wines sold by wineries, liquor stores and agencies in Canada in 2009/2010, up 3.1% from the previous year.

456.5 million litres — The volume of wine sold at wineries, liquor stores and agencies in Canada in 2009/2010, a 3.4% increase. The growth in sales of imported wine outpaced the growth of domestic wine sales.

Source: “Control and sale of alcoholic beverages,” The Daily, Wednesday, April 20, 2011.

A glass of sparkling wine

$341.1 million — The value of sales of sparkling wines sold in Canada in 2009/2010. By value, Canadian products made up nearly a quarter of this amount.

19.9 million litres — The volume of sparkling wines sold in Canada in 2009/2010. By volume, Canadian products made more than a third of this amount.

Source: CANSIM, table 183-0015 (Control and Sale of Alcoholic Beverages in Canada).

A box of chocolates

221 — The number of manufacturers of chocolate and confectioneries from cocoa beans and from purchased chocolate in Canada in 2009.

$1.5 billion — The total revenue of manufacturers of chocolate and confectioneries from cacoa beans in Canada in 2009. (Data for the revenues of companies that manufacture confectionaries using purchased chocolate are suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act.)

Source: CANSIM, table 301-0006 (Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging).

A bouquet of roses

12.0 million — The number of stems of roses produced in Canada in 2010. This represents a million bouquets of a dozen roses each.

Source: Greenhouse, sod and nursery industries, 2010.

A romantic book

Romance novels explore human love relationships. Poetry is often used to convey feelings of love.

$2.2 billion — The operating revenues for the book publishing industry in Canada in 2009.

Source: “Book publishing industry,” The Daily, Monday, January 17, 2011.

A love song

Say it with music!

$858.9 million — The combined operating revenues for the sound recording industry in Canada in 2009.

Source: Sound recording and music publishing, 2009.

It’s a date!

Going to a movie, a live performance at a theatre or even to a hockey game are great ideas for a date. Some couples even go skiing or enjoy other active sporting activities together!

See The Daily releases on “Performing arts,” “Motion picture theatres,” “Spectator sports, event promoters, artists and related industries” and “Amusement and recreation” for related information and data.

143

(“143” = “I love you” in chat or text lingo…. 1 = “I”; 4 = “love”; 3 = “you”)

Today we can e-mail, chat, send an instant message, or talk—maybe even face to face using video—via the world wide web!

47% — The proportion of Canadian Internet users who used an instant messenger to communicate in 2010.

24% — The proportion of Canadian Internet users who made online telephone calls in 2010.

Source: Table 3: Online activities from any location (% of Internet users) in “Individual Internet use and E-commerce,” The Daily, Wednesday, October 12, 2011.

Nearly half — The amount of their online time Canadian Internet users spent, on average, emailing or chatting with others in 2005.

Source: “How Canadians' Use of the Internet Affects Social Life and Civic Participation,” Connectedness Series, December 4, 2008.

A place for love

You may or may not find the love of your life in these selected places, but you might find some interesting census data in Community profiles (2006) and in Census profile (2011):

Happy Valentine’s Day from Statistics Canada!

For more information about this page or for help finding more data, contact Media Relations.

See previous features on this and many other subjects in By the numbers – archives.