First, the good news – people are planning to spend an average of US$100 on their Valentine’s Day gifts this year.

Hong Kongers are expected to get the most lavish at $243 each, followed by lovebirds in China at $239 and Singapore at $189.

The bad news – less than half of the 8,779 people surveyed by Mastercard are actually planning to buy a gift for their loved ones (44%). Here, the Thai took the lead at 79%, closely followed by China (72%) and Hong Kong (65%).

Across Asia Pacific men plan to spend 40% more than women on gifts this year – in New Zealand, Japan and India, men plan to spend more than double on gifts than women.

The only markets where women plan to spend more than men are Sri Lanka and South Korea.

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And where’s all this money going? Flowers, found the survey.

However, between 2013 and 2015, 36% of money spent on Valentine’s Day went on hotels, while 24% was used up at restaurants.

Jewelry is another big-ticket item, making up 14% of expenditure from 2013 to 2015.

Eric Schneider, APAC head at MasterCard Advisors, said: “What’s surprising is that Valentine’s Day is more popular in markets such as Thailand, China, and Malaysia, than Australia and New Zealand; places that have more of a tradition of marking the day.

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