Figures up on last year
Retailers are likely to make sales of£1.32 billion this Valentine's Day, up from£1.2 billion last year, according to the BRC.

The most popular Valentine's gift is flowers with 58 per cent of people buying them. They will spend a total of£262 million and purchase an estimated 21 million roses.

Other popular gifts include chocolates - 43 per cent of people will buy them as presents - followed by jewellery, which accounts for 28 per cent.

Men are more likely to buy Valentine's Day gifts online than women. Men are also the more generous partner. They will spend an estimated£97.12 on Valentine's Day presents, compared to the average female customer who will spend£91.89.

BRC director-general Kevin Hawkins said: 'Valentine's Day gives an important post-Christmas boost to retailers in several sectors. The number of romantics, their expectations and their desire to show their feelings seem to rise steadily each year. We expect total spending to be up on last year by slightly more than inflation.

'Interestingly, lingerie is the one item we expect less to be spent on this year. That could partly reflect falling prices but, with lingerie the gift most likely to be returned to the shop by the recipient, it may just be that men are finally learning their lesson and buying safer presents.'